Huntress
by Saria19
Summary: AU Whatif fic. Naruto and Sasuke have finally left Konoha. As they go through trials to find the true murderer of the Uchiha, new dangers make themselves new.
1. Arrival

Tori: (is humming a Britney Spears song)

SA: EVIL! (pulls out 50 pound mallet and prepares to strike Tori before Tori pulls out an equally heavy mallet and hits her first)

Zas: NOOOO! Why? (begins to sob, a millisecond later) Ok, I'm done!

Saria: You guys are just WRONG! Mallets were my idea first! (grabs mallet from Tori and accidentally whacks herself across the face)

Zas: Saria? (waves hand in front of authoress's face) She's out of it.

Tori: Guess we'll have to write the fic…. And just to answer any questions, no, none of own Naruto or Britney Spears.

Zas: (Goes wide eyed before getting a thoughtful, perverted look on his face) Oh yeah…. Naruto as a girl…

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Naruto smiled as she landed just outside Konoha's gates, just in time for the Chuunin Exams! If her sources were right, then Orochimaru would be trying something sinister this time.

Nodding to the guards as she entered the village, she felt the men straighten up when he caught sight of her hunters' mask, signifying her as a hunter nin. The look of respect that flashed across their faces was enough to make Naruto smile warmly behind her mask.

After entering Konoha, she quickly made her way to the Hokage tower to report on how her mission to hunt down the now late Mizuki, who had stolen a scroll from the village, had gone.

Sandaime nodded as he heard of yet another successful hunt from the child who was quickly becoming the village's most successful hunter. He smiled as he watched Naruto remove her mask after calmly stating, "The mission has been completed," and handed him the scroll. Yes, even as a twelve year old, appointing Naruto as a hunter nin had been an excellent idea, especially considering that they had started training her when she was seven. Then he felt his breath catch in his throat as he caught sight of the girl's face as the mask finely fell away.

"Naruto, when did this happen?" he asked when he saw the girl's face and hair. The whisker marks she had had throughout her early life had faded and her skin had become milky white, as had her hair except her hair also had dark blue tips and reached down to her knees. Her eyes had become purple and still looked innocent.

"Kyuubi decided to change my appearance when we went through the snow country, he wanted me to be able to blend in. Unfortunately, he liked the changes and decided to make them permanent." Naruto's answer made it sound like it was a perfectly normal thing for someone's appearance to change so drastically in so short a time.

Sandaime found himself at a loss for words to answer, so instead, he dug through a pile to try to find another assignment.

"May I make a suggestion?" Naruto cut in. Sandaime looked up and nodded slightly, still slightly taken aback by the change. "Would it be too much to ask if I may participate in the Chuunin exams this year? I heard that Gaara of the Sand will be here this year, and I am still listed as a Genin."

"Any other reason?" Sandaime asked.

"Just a feeling, that's all, I think I should be here this year. Plus, other people in my age group will also be competing, right?"

Sandaime sighed as he set aside another mission sheet. He didn't see any harm in this, besides; there weren't any hunts presently available that he would consider Naruto ready for. She was highly skilled for a hunter, but she was still young. "Alright, I'll put you on Kakashi's team, they recently got back from a mission to Wave country, and apparently one of his students died while away. You won't have to worry about the missions completed part for competing, but don't let anyone know that you're a hunter nin, that could cause trouble." He smiled slightly at the girl as he reached down and grabbed a money pouch and tossed it to her. "Use that to buy some different clothes for your stay here, what you're wearing stands out a bit, and report back here tomorrow so I can officially make your temporary assignment to Kakashi's team."

Naruto nodded slightly before flashing her trademark grin. "You got it, old geezer!" she shouted as she hopped out the window and headed toward a clothes shop. She wouldn't touch Sandaime's comment about her clothes with a twenty foot cattle prod, he was right. Her dark blue long shirt and dark pants weren't all that strange for colors, but the design that made the sleeves completely cover her hands and the almost dress like legs of the pants were definitely odd, add a purple belt to the mix, and she just screamed, 'Notice me!'

Sandaime felt his eyebrow twitch out of irritation, no matter how long she was gone, Naruto never seemed to change… ,mentally at least. Remembering how she had gotten Neji and Hinata's help last time she was in Konoha (about two weeks ago), and ended up covering the top of the Hokage Tower with whipped cream and a paper mache cherry then painted said building, the police headquarters, and a good part of the Hyuuga mansion orange. To make matters worse, his grandson Konohamaru, had joined them in this escapade. The only reason they hadn't finished off the Hyuuga mansion was because Hiashi and Ebisu had both showed up and tried to stop them. Both men had walked around the next day with raw skin, but still had orange paint stuck on their skin and hair at random places.

"I have probably just doomed us all," he thought out loud.

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Naruto had on a gentle, confident smile when she entered the clothing shop, positive for once that she wouldn't be kicked out. She was right. The clerk took one look at her and instantly grabbed her arm and dragged her through the store, holding up various articles of clothing, looking at different colors, and exclaiming "Cute!" every once in a while. At the end of this, Naruto found herself standing in front of a mirror wearing a new light purple shirt that was tighter around the torso than her other shirt, but still had long, loose sleeves. It was shorter also; showing off her "cute," flat stomach, for once the Kyuubi's seal not showing. She also wore a pair of hip hugger pants that were white. The clerk was standing next to her, holding up a really cute Chinese style dress that was also white in color and had dark blue hems and light purple swirl-like designs on it. The dress itself would reach down to only mid thigh, but it also had slits on both sides.

"Much better," the clerk stated with a smile as she handed the dress to Naruto after the girl had handed over the money to pay for the new clothes, which surprisingly enough, weren't that expensive.

Naruto smiled softly and smiled gently, saying a soft "Thank you," before leaving. Running back to her old apartment, carrying the dress and her hunter outfit, she noted that along the way, she didn't get any hostile stares, instead everyone who noticed her looked curious, or in some cases, attracted. She stopped at her apartment just long enough to drop off her extra clothes, and then went off again in search of Iruka this time.

It was only mid-day, so she wasn't surprised to find Iruka at the Academy, despite today was supposed to be a day off. "Iruka!" she yelled as she ran up behind him and wrapped her arms around him in a hug.

Iruka for his part, recognized the voice and the arms. "Naruto!" he yelled, turning even as he jumped in surprise only to find himself staring at a stranger. "Who?"

The girl smiled even as she said, "I'm exactly who you thought I was. Kyuubi…"

Iruka shook his head slightly, realization hitting immediately. "So, how long are you back this time? I'm not going to have to bail you out of jail again for destruction of public property and assault like last time, right?"

Naruto laughed at the memory then shook her head. "No, this time I'll try to stay out of trouble for the most part. As for how long I'll be here, quite a while actually. The old geezer just gave me permission to take the Chuunin exam! If you don't watch out, I'll make Jounin before you do!"

"I doubt that!" Iruka laughed as he gave the girl a nuggie. "You will definitely get into some sort of trouble while you're here, and as for Jounin comment, I have no doubt you will. So, how about I treat you to a bowl of ramen?"

"Alright!" Naruto yelled as she grabbed Iruka's hand and dragged him out the door and toward Ichiraku.

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Saria: Will Naruto stay out of trouble? Will she eat only one bowl of ramen? WILL I EVER GET A LIFE?

Tori: When did you wake up?

SA: (brandishes a bigger than ever mallet) Heh heh heh, about the same time I did. (smirks evilly)

Tori: Gulp….


	2. Ramen Time

SA: (laughs evilly as she enters) Saria19 isn't a typical authoress, she likes a LOT of "what ifs?" She also changed Naruto's gender because she doesn't feel there are enough strong women in Anime.

Tori: That is barely covering how she feels…

Zas: Come to think of it, where is Saria?

Saria: (is currently sitting outside a tv station, holding a picket sign that reads "We Need More Strong Anime Women!" while holding her laptop)

Zas: Think she knows that she should be protesting in Japan?

SA: Probably does, but she's broke so that is as far as she can go. Anyway, if any of you think we own Naruto, get a cat scan. It is quite likely you are as crazy as Saria.

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Naruto laughed at the expression that Iruka had on his face when he saw her ordering her eighteenth bowl of ramen. He had eaten one bowl so far, and now was sitting there watching his former student scarf down enough ramen to feed the village. The guy behind the counter however, was positively jumping for joy.

Several minutes later, the noodles were set before her and Naruto proceeded to simply dig in, again.

"I'm cutting you off now," came Iruka's voice right as she polished off the bowl. "Enough is enough, and Naruto, you've had much more than enough."

Quickly setting her face for puppy dog eyes, Naruto turned to Iruka. "Please? Pwetty pwease?"

Iruka simply hit her on top of the head with a menu while laughing. "That hasn't worked on me for sometime now Naruto. You should remember that!"

Puffing out her cheeks, Naruto simply pouted at him while Iruka paid the bill, part of it anyway. Naruto had slipped some cash into his while he wasn't looking.

On the walk back to the Academy, Iruka asked about the details of Naruto's previous hunt of Mizuki. He winced slightly when he found out that the man had died because his death wheel shuriken had stabbed him on it's return run when he was distracted by Naruto. If he hadn't thrown the thing, chances were that he would have been brought back to Konoha alive. To a certain extent, Iruka felt sorry for his old work partner. Mizuki had been very ambitious, too bad he was also power hungry.

"So, who's team are you going to be on?" asked Iruka, suddenly wishing to change the subject.

"Kakashi's." Naruto answered, not noticing the way that Iruka blanched slightly. "Who's on his team anyway?"

"Sakura, Kenosha who recently died on a mission, and… Sasuke."

"WHAT?" Naruto couldn't help the out burst, nor did she want to. Sasuke and she had been rivals since they were both very young, she still remembered that he had started calling her "dobe," the day that she had been removed from typical classes at the Academy at nine, exactly two years after the training to make her a hunter nin had started. She had been kept in some of the classes at the Academy to insure she learned customs and how to fit in to insure she knew how to be inconspicuous, invaluable skills for a hunter while traveling through populated areas.

She knew Sakura as well; that girl cared too much about how she looked. Whenever she was in Konoha between missions, if she ran into Sakura, the girl was usually shopping for clothes or competing with Ino, yet another girl, for Sasuke's attention. She seemed very vapid and extremely shallow, not very good ninja material no matter what the situation. Unless Sasuke was being hurt, at that point, Naruto was sure that Sakura would be an absolute kunoichi.

Kenosha had actually been someone she hadn't minded, except that he kept trying to do things precisely according to the book. The only time she had truly seen him crack a smile was once after one of her pranks when she had dumped a bucket full of chalk dust onto Mizuki's head. That day, nobody was able to keep a straight face as they watched the instructor's face turn exactly six shades of red followed by ten shades of purple when he forgot to breathe while chasing half the class because they dared to laugh.

"Hey, hey! It's not that bad, Naruto. Sasuke has become a very good ninja. He graduated top of the class!" Iruka stated.

"Doesn't make him any less of a bastard…" was Naruto's mumbled reply as they once again arrived at the Academy. "I think I'll go around the village, see if anything has changed."

"Some things never change, others do. I think you'll find Konoha hasn't changed much at all, it's only been two weeks after all!" Iruka yelled at her back.

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Naruto felt like griping today. She had gone through the village yesterday but hadn't seen anyone that she particularly wanted to talk to and hadn't seen anything new. However, yesterday she had learned what it was probably like to be Sasuke, she had been approached by a number of boys or men, including one really old, white haired pervert who had tried to introduce himself as the author of the best books ever written. She had thrown said pervert through a wall.

'Great, now I'm going to have to learn to get along with a bastard and his fangirl,' she thought as she lightly jogged down a street towards the Hokage Tower. 'Maybe I should have just taken the mission and asked the geezer if he could make me a Chuunin based upon his knowledge of my ability… nah. This will be a lot more fun, once we get to the fighting part anyway.'

Her arrival at the tower was pretty much unnoticed, to those that weren't of the male gender, which unfortunately wasn't a very high percent. As she walked up to the Hokage's office, she noticed that many heads turned to watch her and she knew that a number of the ANBU guards were also watching despite her leaf hitai-ate, which was now positioned on her forehead.

Unsurprisingly, the guards at the Hokage's door stopped her and asked what her business was. She didn't even open her mouth before the door swung open and a strange man who only had one visible eye and spiky white hair appeared. He took one look at her and seemed to nod his approval before grabbing her arm and dragging the shocked girl into the office and slamming the door shut.

"She's here!" the oddball shouted at the old man, who looked like he was napping slightly behind his desk. "Now, do you promise not to carry through with your threat?"

The Hokage simply gave Kakashi a smile that seemed very unnerving, pulled out a pipe and said, "For now at least, Kakashi. For now."

"Why did you want me here anyway?"

"I'm adding a new person to your team, namely this girl." Now Naruto felt the urge to wring the geezer's neck as his smile fell upon her. "Kakashi, this is Naruto, she is a hunter nin of extreme skill, but she is also still a Genin. She requested to be allowed to participate this year. The rest of your team is not to find out what she is, and she will be entering under a different name, with me only providing minimal data, just enough for her to qualify."

There was silence as this information sank in, then Naruto spoke.

"Why do I have to have a different name?"

"Do you really want people recognizing you?" was the Sandaime's immediate reply. Silence was his only answer.

"Very well then. Naruto, during the exam you shall be known as Shale, Uzuta Shale. I'll say you also had a private instructor and went with him on several missions that would qualify you to take this exam. Now, I think you should go and be introduced to your new team, as Uzuta Shale!" The geezer finished his statement while sending a very sharp eye at Kakashi.

Kakashi only seemed to smirk while rubbing the back of his head before turning and heading towards the door. Naruto shrugged and turned to follow Kakashi only for the door to the office to burst open and see a little kid come bounding into the room.

"Old man! Prepare to be defeated! I, Konohamaru, shall be the Goda…." At that point, he tripped on the extra long scarf that he wore and fell flat on his face.

"Fat chance kid!" Naruto yelled after helping the kid up. "I'm the one who's going to become the Godaime!"

"Oh yeah?" Konohamaru challenged. "I'll be the Hokage long before you, my tutor assured me of that!"

"That's right little master!" yelled a very ridiculous looking man that Naruto instantly recognized as one of the men that tried to stop her from being able to paint the Hyuuga mansion orange with the assistance of Hinata, Neji, and Konohamaru. "Just follow my instru…"

"Can it," Naruto said as she planted her foot quite firmly into the irritations face.

The man, Ebisu, stood in shock for a second, then jumped back and prepared to defend his wounded pride, until he got a better look at Naruto.

"What heavenly maiden doth grace my lowly presence with such radiant light that she turns the sun and moon green with envy?" Ebisu immediately dropped to his knees in a begging position. "Dear, sweet angel, let me hear the sweet song that is your name and I shall…"

The horrific speech was cut short as Naruto, in a whirlpool of impatience, horror, and humiliation, gave Ebisu a hard right hook to the jaw sending him through the wall and out into the hallway only to go through that wall as well. There was silence for a second before the distinct sound of clapping and cheering could be heard from the guards.

"I'm flattered by this opportunity, Hokage-sama." Kakashi said before disappearing in a puff of smoke to follow his newest student as she stomped down the hall.

**zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz**

Saria: Well? Like it? Hate it? Have a suggestion? Who cares! Review one and all!

SA: (grabs the picket sign and runs away from the tv station while Zas carries Saria and Tori holds the laptop) They're sending security out to get us!


	3. Sited

Tori: (is huffing and puffing) Just… barely made…it…

Saria: WOO HOO! (is jumping around excitedly, SA is brandishing mallet, prepared to take a swing at her)

Zas: Don't bother SA, she was carried half of the run from security, plus it was thanks to her that we got away. Who would have ever thought that watching all that Anime would teach her so many martial arts?

SA: (cracks knuckles) If it wasn't for her, we wouldn't have been chased in the first place.

Saria: Then I'll make it up to you, but first, THE FIC!

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"And remember, don't piss off Sasuke," Kakashi continued as they headed toward the meeting place. Naruto felt like killing something, after she had wiped the floor with that Ebisu guy, Kakashi had caught up with her and starting laying down rules. Mainly they were: Follow my orders, don't piss off Sasuke. Be on time, don't piss off Sasuke. Be willing to work as a team, and of course, last but not least, don't piss off Sasuke.

'Either Sasuke is super unstable or Kakashi must be a member of his fan club,' Naruto thought, while trying to envision Kakashi in a dress, vying for Sasuke's attention. The thought brought a smile to her face.

"We typically meet at the same bridge every morning at 8 a.m. Don't EVER be late, it'll piss off Sasuke," Kakashi continued as they moved through the town. "If we have a mission or training, I'll give it to you guys when I arrive, if not, then you're generally free for the day."

'Kakashi in a dress, Kakashi in a dress,' was Naruto's mantra as she fought to keep her calm as Sasuke was mentioned again. Yep, in her opinion, Kakashi was crushing on Sasuke.

"Anyway, here we are!" Kakashi announced as he came to a halt, now in the middle of a bridge that was near the hot springs.

"YOU'RE LATE!" a voice screamed, making Naruto really wish she had some earplugs. How could anyone make their voice sound THAT annoying?

"Sorry, I got called in by the Hokage who wished for me to travel the road of life and while I was there, he also had me pick up this girl and bring her along for our journey." Naruto believed that that was one of, if not THE lamest excuse she had ever heard. How hard was it to say, 'I was in a meeting with the Hokage who just assigned a new member for our team'?

Putting on a nice smile, she waved slightly at Sakura when the girl looked at her, but she completely ignored Sasuke. Despite the warmth of her smile though, she could see Sakura stare at her for a second before becoming very visibly ticked for some reason or another.

"This is Uzuta Shale, she will be on our team for a little while because she wishes to compete in the Chuunin exam and you need to be on a team for that." Kakashi received cold stares from all around; Sakura's was for bring another girl into the picture, and Sasuke's and "Shale's" (aka: Naruto), for stating the obvious.

Completely oblivious to the looks, Kakashi continued, "So, Shale, tell us about yourself."

Naruto nodded before beginning a HIGHLY edited and/or falsified oral on her training. "I graduated from the Academy last year and began training under a Jounin. My teammates were really nice, but tended to go off by themselves quite often. That got them killed just a little over two weeks ago when we were on a mission and there was an attack. My training so far has been specialized in trap setting, survival, prisoner escort, and tracking. I can do a fox summon, it's very useful for the tracking part. I hope to one day be a great hunter nin, then maybe move on to become Hokage."

Sakura looked slightly abashed by the girl's short story, and sort of sad about what happened to her "teammates". Sasuke looked like he couldn't care less. Kakashi was looking bored but she could tell he was paying special attention to her story, looking for flaws.

"Alright, today we have a mission, and I will turn in the applications for you guys to participate in the exam. No training tomorrow, or missions either. The exam will be the day after tomorrow at 8 a.m. in room 301. Don't be late. Oh, and have fun weeding," Kakashi said with a chuckle as he tossed a scroll to Sasuke who nonchalantly caught it.

"Bye!" Kakashi practically sang before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

"Does he do that all the time?" Naruto asked her new "team".

"All the time," replied Sakura as she started to follow Sasuke who had opened and was reading the scroll as he walked.

'Great,' Naruto thought as she fell in step. 'Sakura probably thinks I'm trying to intrude on her territory, and Sasuke…' Her thoughts trailed off for a second as she saw Sakura suddenly grab onto him and start rambling on about one thing or another, stopping every once in a while to say something like, "Right, Sasuke-kun?" or "Sasuke-kun, don't you agree?"

'Damn I feel sorry for Sasuke. If that is what he always has to put up with, no wonder he's a bastard… Where did that come from?' Naruto bereted herself slightly for her sympathy towards the bastard.

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'Why am I doing this? Why, why, WHY?' Naruto thought again and again as she pulled more weeds.

The house they were weeding at was near the outskirts of Konoha, so everyone had expected for Sasuke to be able to avoid his fan club. Instead, not only was Sasuke's fan club there, but the newly formed fan club of "The White Haired Angel Ninja" also followed. It was led by none other than Ebisu.

"I'll kill him," she murmured as she passed Sasuke. "I'll kill them all, roast their flesh, and give it to several of my foxes for lunch!"

"Hallelujah, add my fan club while you're at it," Sasuke added with a smirk, which caused many of the girls to swoon.

"I'll add it to my 'things to do' list right away," Naruto replied coldly.

"Shale?"

"What?" Naruto asked as she looked back at Sasuke.

"Would you move? You're in my way."

"Right away your royal prickfulness," Naruto replied as she moved, her fan club now erupting as they finally found out her name.

**zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz**

Despite her best efforts to not be noticed as she went home that night, and she was quite sure no one saw, by midday the next day, it seemed as though every member of her fan club knew where she lived. Most people would ask how she knew, well, the various flowers and gifts from different people asking for dates was probably a good tip.

Naruto shook her head in annoyance as she stepped over a lot of the stuff to get to her door that morning after she had finished her morning shuriken, kunai, and throwing blades practice, not in any mood for the stuff. The reason for her foul mood: Sakura.

Right after finishing with her practice not even ten minutes ago, Sakura had come into the clearing as Naruto picked up the last of her stuff. She had then proceeded to have a "friendly" discussion on why Shale needed to stay away from HER Sasuke-kun. She had almost thrown a screaming fit when Naruto had told her point blank that she wasn't interested in Sasuke.

Stepping into the shower after discarding her hunter outfit which she had been training in on the floor, she tried to clear her head under the downpour of hot water, but found her mind wandering back, back to several days ago when she was returning from her hunt of Mizuki. She had been passing through the Water country, near the border of the River country when she had seen them.

At first, they weren't much to look at, just two guys that seemed to be meditating. Curiosity had gotten the better of her though, and she had to get a better look. As she hid in one of the trees, just watching, one of them had suddenly stood and called out something. Immediately a figure had dashed out at the two wielding a rather short sword, obviously meant for speed and control.

The one who had called in turn pulled a bandage wrapped sword off his back and lazily swung at the interloper. Said person caught the tip of the sword with his own sword. Naruto was surprised at what happened next.

Normally, the tip of the sword is where you will find the least amount of strength if a person tries to start movement, after it is started, then momentum makes up for that lack of strength. Naruto knew that lesson well, so for her it was surprising when the first guy was able to overpower the second with just the tip of his bandaged sword, then shredded his arm with a yank on his blade. Needless to say, the second met a bloody death soon after, but it was such a harsh one that despite being and hunter and seeing plenty of torn up people, Naruto had winced. Yet, she found this exciting. She wondered what the guy looked like; his hat had completely hidden his head and left her with only the ability to guess.

'**_Kit, I don't like where this is going, you had better leave before they find you or your fate will be no different than that ill fated attacker._**' She had sighed when Kyuubi had spoken up as the voice of good judgment, but knowing that that was the smart choice, she had left soon after, just a second longer to be able to take one last look at the sword wielder.

"Wonder what it would be like to fight him," Naruto wondered out loud. "Just for training, or even fun…"

'**_I think you are finally growing up._**' came Kyuubi's long familiar voice.

"What?" Naruto asked somewhat stupidly.

'**_Admit it, kit. You're attracted to danger, he looked dangerous. I think you're in love with someone who's face you haven't even seen, much less met._**'

"Am not!" Naruto almost shouted. "Probably just a crush at worst."

'**_So you admit it, you have grown!_**' The Kyuubi was only teasing, Naruto knew it, but she hated it. She wasn't in love; she just wondered what it would be like to fight him.

'**_I know that you think he would make an interesting hunt,_**' the Kyuubi said. '**_And I share that opinion, he would be interesting._**'

"I don't even know if that was a guy. My interest was based purely as one Shinobi evaluating another. And that's the end of it." Naruto hadn't even realized that she had gotten dry and put on the dress she had bought until she had stepped out of her apartment and had jumped down to the street below.

'Damn!' she thought as she walked down the street. 'I can't train in this, so why did I put it on? Oh well, lets see if Hinata or Neji can recognize me, last time I wore a dress, Neji actually turned close to four shades of red. Let's see if this will hit him harder!'

**zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz**

Tori: Well, that was the chapter! Now, how is she going to try to make it up to us?

Zas: Maybe a good porn…WHAM!(is double teamed by SA and Tori)

Saria: Double chocolate chip cookies! Baked fresh! All reviewers get some too!

Tori, SA, and Zas: (look at cookies and drowl)


	4. The Film

Saria: Alright, probably time to clear several things up:

The reason that Kyuubi can change Naruto's appearance is because they are both female, can connect better, and Naruto let her do it.

The reason for the coloring that Kyuubi chose: it's the SNOW country. White hair and super pale skin would allow better camouflage.

This fic will NOT be a Kisame/Naruto fic. Kyuubi was only teasing Naruto because she wants Naruto to make a choice for a mate, or at least get a boyfriend and have some idea of what she wants in a mate. Naruto only wants to fight Kisame, nothing else.

Hinata is more confident because she found a female friend in Naruto, someone she could connect with. There will be NO romantic feelings.

Gaara's attitude has also been tweaked a bit.

SA: That really annoyed you, didn't it?

Tori: (completely ignorant) Mmmm…. Good cookies…

SA, Zas, and Saria: (all glare at Tori as she reaches for the last cookie) NO YOU DON'T! (attacked with mallets, axes, and a cup ramen box, respectively)

It took Naruto the better part of an hour to locate Hinata and convince the girl of who she was, mainly by reviewing their last several pranks and the meeting places they had set up for before and after. When Hinata was finally convinced, surprisingly enough, it was her that suggested they play a bit of a joke on Neji. Naruto was impressed, Hinata was definitely becoming more confident.

The prank was simple, Naruto wouldn't tell Neji who she was and show up with Hinata. She would pretend to be a major fan, see how many shades of red she could make him turn, tell him her name, then run like mad. Simple, but it would be very funny if Neji fell for it, one of the reasons that Hinata brought a camera with her.

"Hinata, I think I'm rubbing off on you," Naruto murmured as they entered the clearing where Neji was training. It was no surprise that he was not surprised, his Byakugan was currently active.

"Hinata-sama, who is your friend?" Neji's question seemed to be without curiosity, but Naruto could tell from his slight shift that he was. Quickly painting a smile on her voice, Naruto walked up to Neji.

"Hey cutie, what are you doing for the next couple hours?" She asked, making sure to shift her normal tone to try to sound seductive. Neji turned a little red as the girl looked him up and down.

'Damn she's cute,' he thought before mentally slapping himself, he never showed THAT sort of interest in any girl!

Naruto smiled as she made her next move and reached into Neji's back shuriken and kunai pouch, while standing in front of him. The feeling of the girl's arms circling his waist made Neji truly blush, no one ever did this to him! He was still in shock when the girl's hand withdrew, holding a kunai and a shuriken.

The girl winked at Neji once more before turning toward the targets and tossing both kunai and shuriken in a stance that Neji immediately recognized.

"Naruto…?" Neji's jaw dropped in that instance and he turned redder than he had ever been in his life as 'Naruto' snickered and a flash came from the vicinity where Hinata was.

The denizens of Konoha suddenly found themselves turning their heads toward the sky as they saw several of the oddest birds pass overhead. They were soon followed by the strange call that sounded oddly like, "GET BACK HERE SO I CAN KILL BOTH OF YOU!"

Hinata and Naruto landed briefly in front of the Hokage monument before parting, both hoping to lose the bloodthirsty Neji. Naruto quickly scaled the monument while Hinata did a duck and cover, heading back to the Hyuuga mansion as stealthily as she could. The reason: while Naruto had been the one to make Neji so… so… RED, Hinata was the one with the embarrassing proof. At least that was what Neji thought.

Naruto laughed as she sat on the top of the monument, tossing the camera up and catching it on her finger tips. Below, Neji was trying to find Hinata, not knowing that she had passed the camera off to Naruto, or that Naruto had already hidden the film and put a spare roll in. Laughing again, she tried to imagine what she should do with the pictures, use them as blackmail, a constant threat for the future, or just give Neji the negatives and let this invaluable dirt slip.

"Naruto-o," she heard a voice behind her say. With a startled "eep!", Naruto immediately leapt off the monument and lighted down a street, turning left, then right, going straight for a ways, before turning again, unsuccessfully trying to lose her pursuer. Right as he caught her, Naruto spied Konohamaru with his two friends.

"Konohamaru, catch!" she screamed as she threw the camera at the little boy right as Neji's arms closed around her waist.

It was obvious that Konohamaru had no clue what was going on as he caught the empty camera, but Neji's blood red face with flaming eyes made it clear, either hand over the camera or die. He chose neither. Clutching the camera close, he turned and ran down the street, only to collide with something large and solid.

"Hey, watch where you're going brat!" The words were grunted by a voice that Konohamaru didn't recognize, and were accompanied by a hand reaching down and grabbing him by the collar.

"Sorry," the child replied as he tried to wiggle out of the grip of what he now saw was a boy wearing a rather ridiculous looking black outfit whose face was painted with purple streaks. He also carried a large, bandage wrapped… thing, on his back.

"You ran into me, you little twirp," the boy began.

"Let him go, Kankuro," the voice belonged to a slightly older girl standing nearby who carried a large fan on her back. Right then, Naruto managed to free herself from Neji's grasp and approached the odd boy, intent on attacking if he should try to hurt her little friend.

"Pfft!" The boy simply dropped Konohamaru, then looked at Naruto with interest. 'Really nice, especially with that dress. Guess there is a plus side to Konoha after all,' he thought.

"Who are you? What is your business in this village?" Naruto demanded as she pulled Konohamaru back, shielding him slightly with her body. Silence was her only answer.

"You're here for the Chuunin Exams, right?" The voice of Uchiha Sasuke rang out from a tree that was off to the side of the road. All heads turned to look at the boy as he jumped down to the street, glaring at the new comers.

"That is correct," came yet another voice, and even Sasuke was surprised as they all turned back to Sasuke's tree to see a red head hanging from a branch on the opposite side of the tree that Sasuke had been on.

_20 minutes later_

Naruto, Neji, Hinata, and surprisingly enough, Gaara, the red head from before, were walking down the street, trying their best to look innocent.

Their first meeting hadn't been that bad, in fact, it went very well. After Gaara had also jumped down from the tree, he had gone through a very creepy speech. Naruto being Naruto of course, had burst into a bubbly speech of her own immediately afterwards, introducing herself as "Uzuta Shale", earning a startled stare from Neji which Hinata corrected with a stomp on the foot. She then introduced Neji as the "Living Tomato," Hinata as the "Great Mistress of Gentle Fist," Konohamaru as the, "Prince of Pranks in Konoha," and Sasuke as the, "Grand High, Stick up His Ass, King of Pricks." There had been a chorus of laughter after that, even Gaara cracking a slight smile.

Several minutes later, a ball was kicked into their midst, and Konohamaru invited everyone to play. Gaara looked very surprised at the invitation but accepted.

Sasuke, Kankuro, and Temari, the last two had been introduced by Gaara after himself, all declined, but soon found themselves dodging as the Hyuugas', Naruto, Gaara, and the Konohamaru Corps all teamed up against them. Unfortunately, this got a little out of control and they ended up smashing several windows, knocking over a number of people, and banged up the front of a restaurant, not completely destroying it, but Naruto had no doubt they were banned for life.

The innocent act that they were doing now was to hopefully throw off anyone guessing that they were responsible for the windows. The reason that Sasuke and the others weren't with them was because they had tied the bastard and the two other Sand siblings to poles while the Konohamaru Corps had gone somewhere else since it would look too suspicious if they were together. Naruto was certain though that by now, Sasuke would have been "rescued" by his fan club.

"So, what now?" Gaara's voice still sent chills up her spine, it sounded so… dead!

"Yes… Shale, what now?" Naruto didn't like the way Neji stressed her name. "Wait, I know! I can force you and Hinata to surrender that camera!" The last part was screamed by Neji as dove to tackle Naruto.

"Ok, here you go," she replied simply as she shoved the camera into Neji's face, effectively stopping his forward momentum, and making a very funny impression on his face. Turning to Hinata, she winked slightly, even as Neji ripped open the camera and yanked the film out, destroying the evidence, or so he thought.

"So, who's up for ramen?" Naruto asked, right as several stomachs rumbled.

"What's ramen?" All three Konoha nins stared at the red headed Sand nin, mouths agape.

_That night_

'**_That Gaara was similar to you, kit.'_** Naruto sighed when she heard the Kyuubi suddenly speak, and about the Sand nin.

"To bad he doesn't live in Konoha, he'd make an excellent addition to the group. Still, it was strange, the way he reacted when I made the introductions in a joking matter, or when Konohamaru invited his party to play with us. I guess he is a lot like me though, or how I was before I became friends with Hinata."

'**_Don't cross him though, kit. If that first one with the bandaged sword was a tiger, he would be a kitten compared to Gaara when he's mad. We might be one of the few that could face him if he gets distraught over something.' _**Naruto nodded, what Kyuubi said made sense, she would have to be on her toes throughout the exam, first from the rumors she had heard and of course, Gaara now. **_'Keep an open mind about him though, and be willing to listen and talk, try to keep violence to a minimum.'_**

"What, are you not going to try to hook me up with him? You always are trying to do that, even with that Rain jounin with that horrendous personality. And as I remember, the reason you gave me was because you liked his hair!"

'**_No kit, just giving you ample warning. However, a friendship does seem possible; you seem to be able to calm him, plus your similarities will let you connect better than most.'_**

"You're keeping something from me, aren't you?" Naruto groaned when there wasn't any answer. There never seemed to be one for questions that were important to her that the Kyuubi wanted her to figure out. She had all the clues, so what was the answer?

SA and Zas: (are staring at Saria)

Saria: Minna, why are you staring?

Tori: (sits up) Why'd you hit me with a cup ramen box?

Saria: Because I just finished the last ramen in the box, and I was going to throw it out anyway!

SA, Zas, and Tori: Oookay, very weird…


	5. The Past

Saria: … What was I doing again?

Tori: (holds up a hypnosis coin) You are writing the fic, at long last… writing the fic!

SA: Do you honestly believe that that will work? Even Zas wouldn't fall for that!

Zas: Must… write… fic…

Tori: It works!

SA and Saria: (sweatdrop) (Saria grabs coin from Tori)

Saria: (holds coin in front of Zas) Do the disclaimer!

Zas: We… no… own… Naruto… If did… Itachi and… Naruto… LOVE!

bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb

That night, as Naruto tried to understand the clues she had gotten from Kyuubi about Gaara, she found herself drawn instead to memories of the past. She smiled as she remembered taking the placement exam in the academy, how all her scores in math, physics, and land navigation had earned her special attention, some thinking her a genius.

The only problem was getting her chakra to cooperate with her will. When the problem had come to the attention of Sandaime, he had called for her, and told her the truth of why she was having problems with her chakra, mainly because he felt she would understand. She had been five years old when she found out about the Kyuubi.

Her immediate reaction had been disgust with herself, then, oddly enough, sympathy towards the Kyuubi. She had meditated long and hard after that to finally talk to the fox, and some how, had made peace when the fox saw she was just a child. That was how their partnership and in essence, "friendship," had started.

With Kyuubi's help, she had already tested out of most classes at the academy by the time she was seven. Sandaime had told her that he had a teacher in mind for her who had also graduated at that age, and that she was going to be considered graduated because there was little else she could learn at the academy. Her teacher's name, would be Uchiha Itachi.

Naruto sighed as she remembered the joy of getting her forehead protector, even though she had also received a strict order to NEVER wear it until it was announced publicly that she'd graduated.

She also remembered meeting Itachi-sensei that first and last time, when Sandaime has asked him if he would consider becoming a teacher. The ANBU captain seemed to agree almost… happily. It wasn't evident on his face, even with his mask off, but there had been a glint in his eyes that no one could deny. It was decided then that Itachi-sensei would tell his parents of him taking up a teaching position that day, while Naruto went to the Academy just to keep up with appearances and make it look as though nothing had changed. However, starting tomorrow, she would be removed from most "unnecessary" classes at the academy so that Itachi would have more time to train her and take her on missions.

This however, didn't happen. Naruto never knew what happened to Itachi-sensei, but the next day Sandaime had called her to his office to tell her that a disaster had struck. She had been dumbfounded as he told her about the massacre, even more so when he told her who was responsible. No reasons were ever given. That same day she had sworn that she would train to be a hunter and bring "Itachi-sensei" back for punishment. That day she met the first of a long line of teachers who would eventually declare her ready to hunt when she was nine, when she was immediately removed from all classes at the academy so that she could leave on missions without suspicion.

None of her classmates or friends knew, and only a handful of ninja, including Iruka-sensei, knew that Naruto hadn't dropped out of the academy. Not even Hinata and Neji knew. They told her though that most people in the class believed she left to pursue a academic career, she told them that she had been accepted as a apprentice by a traveling ninja, and had chosen to continue traveling though she still regarded Konoha as her home. It was definitely a tale that accounted for her long absences.

At first, when she was sent out on hunts, Naruto was simply sent out after genins that had chosen to runaway. She brought all but one back alive out of the twenty-two genin she had hunted, of which fourteen had only been missing because they had gotten lost and had asked for directions back to Konoha the moment they saw her mask's symbol. The last eight had been official runaways, the one who had died had been a fool who believed that he was meant to become the world's most powerful being, and that Konoha was holding him back. He had been the weakest of the eight runaways by far. Soon, after about one year of hunting, Naruto had found herself paired up with another young hunter whose face she never saw. She was ten at the time, and already hunting down chuunin with a partner.

That year, she had made a bid to participate in the Chuunin Exams, seeing as how she'd been a genin for three years at that point. The request had been declined, and the next few years she hadn't been there to participate. She was going to have to make sure that she made this chance count.

Sighing, and realizing that once again she wasn't going to be getting any sleep that night, Naruto reluctantly opened her closet, looking for a good dark set of clothes. She settled on a dark green wrap-around tunic and a black pair of pants, both a little on the baggy side, but not by much. Once she was dressed and had her sandals slipped on her feet, she quietly hopped out of her window, into a warm night breeze, and leapt lightly from roof to roof heading towards the training field.

Immediately after landing in a field, Naruto did a quick stretching exercise before launching into a series of katas she had been taught to help with breathing and balance. As she moved from form to form, she still considered what Kyuubi had said about Gaara. She pushed her mind hard, and right as she finished the second kata with her body on automatic mode, it clicked.

Very few people knew of the power that the full anger of a human vessel for a demon. If it would take her power to bring Gaara down if he went mad, then it was most likely safe to say that he was a vessel as well.

"Bingo," said Kyuubi, from deep within Naruto's body.

Naruto nodded silently, finally understanding. Before her hunter's mask had gone on so no one could recognize her, she had been treated horribly by most people in the village, no doubt Gaara was the same. However, she had escaped the hate, and was much more stable than Gaara it seemed.

'Hey, Kyuubi, do you think that his seal is faulty or something?' Naruto asked.

"Probably more along the lines of incomplete because some human either made a stupid error or didn't finish it because they were afraid that it would kill them," was the Kyuubi's reply.

'Man, that has to be driving him mad, especially if the two haven't made peace between themselves…' This was a private thought by Naruto, but the Kyuubi heard and for once chose to remain silent.


	6. The Offer

Zas: YOU MADE ME SAY WHAT?

Saria: You heard me the first 6 times. Get over it already. Now, I would like to thank all the lovely reviewers! (rolls eyes)

SA: We keep telling you to write and update! Maybe you should actually do it!

Tori: Yeah, no blaming the reviewers.

Saria: My own muses….

ALL: WE DON"T OWN NARUTO AND IF YOU DON'T KNOW THAT YET, CALL THE CENTER FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND TURN YOURSELF IN FOR CHRONIC STUPIDITY!

'Alright,' Naruto thought as she sat down, the sky was still dark, and she guessed it was maybe 3 AM, giving her about 5 hours before the Chuunin exam started, or in her opinion, 5 hours to locate Gaara and put a temporary fix on his seal so he could be somewhat stable during this part of the exam. It should also keep him from doing anything that was drastic or permanently harmful.

Standing up, Naruto did a quick once over of her equipment, even insuring that she had rope and seals so that if Gaara or the demon within him tried to fight the reinforcement of the seal, she'd be able to restrain him. She had no doubt that Gaara would have no problems with the seal, but it would probably be better to be safe.

"Kuchiyose no jutsu," she whispered, slapping her palm on the ground after biting her thumb for a little blood. Immediately a little green fox was sitting in front of her, blinking its wide green eyes sleepily. Naruto resisted the very strong urge to squeal at the adorable image, but found nothing wrong with scratching said fox lightly behind the ears. Jumoing up, she smiled fondly at the fox before asking her question.

"Can you find the vessel of Shukaku? He should be in the village somewhere."

"Hai," was the soft, almost shy sounding reply from the fox as it bowed slightly before skipping off toward the village.

'Odd,' was Naruto's initial thought. 'I didn't know a fox could skip…'

Finding Gaara wound up not being very hard, in fact if Naruto hadn't felt the need to hurry, she could have tracked him in under an hour. With the little tracking fox though, she found him in just about 10 minutes.

Naruto wasn't that surprised when she saw him sitting on a roof top, staring at the soon to be new moon; however the sheer exhaustion that was written on his features did seem to jump up at her. Not believing that it would be the best idea to suddenly jump up and start trying to shove seals on him, she landed on the roof top a good distance from him, then walked noisily toward him so he would know she was there before sitting there right next to him.

Out of the corner of her eye, Naruto saw Gaara's look of surprise before it melted back to a neutral look. Silence reigned for several minutes before Naruto spoke, mainly so that she could think of what she was going to say and to give Gaara a few minutes. Finally, she started.

"Nice night, huh?" Naruto felt like kicking herself, hard.

"…" was the only reply she got. Several minutes later though, Gaara's voice asked the question. "What are you doing here?"

"Thinking, wondering, and hopefully getting some answers." Gaara seemed to stiffen at that reply.

"What answers could you possibly find here?" he demanded, unwilling to look at the white haired girl.

"Well, for starters, why are you so tired? Does it have something to do with a bijuu?" In all her life, even with all the times that she had purposefully embarrassed Neji and villagers, Naruto had never seen a more priceless expression than the one Gaara wore at that moment.

"How do you know?" The question was whispered, and was more of a demand, yet seemed to have a pleading edge to it. It was almost like he meant to add more to the question, but he couldn't bear to.

Naruto merely stated quietly, "Birds of a feather, that's what we are."

Gaara's eyes were so wide by that point, Naruto was certain that in another moment they would pop out of his head. Fortunately for both parties, they didn't. He could only utter one word after that shocking news, "What?"

Naruto smiled, doing her best to look reinsuring, even giving his shoulder a slight squeeze before continuing. "The day I was born, the great youma Kyuubi attacked Konoha. That same day, the village was saved by the Yondaime Hokage by sealing the demon into the body of a newborn, that was me."

"But, the people, they… accept you…" Now Naruto understood.

"No, they didn't. The reason why I don't receive dirty looks anymore is because I made peace with Kyuubi, and she saw fit to change my appearance. I don't get dirty looks, because the people don't know who I am. I'm even taking this exam under a different name." Glancing at Gaara, she saw realization hit him, and then a darkening look appeared. Taking a breath, she continued, "I know how it hurts though, to feel as though you're hated by everyone, that no one views you as needed, or wanted."

"But what about betrayal, when your own family won't have anything to do with you and the one person that you thought cared turns against you?" Gaara snapped this reply in an irritated voice, much different from his usual monotone.

"At least you have a family; I never got to meet mine. When you have one, you can pretend everything is fine, pretend that they care. I don't even have a picture." Naruto was aware of how bitter her voice sounded, but for once she didn't care. "As for betrayal, my nanny turned against me when I was 3 and tried to kill me. At the time, she was the only adult I thought I could trust at that time. I had to live by myself after that."

Gaara was staying quiet, obviously he was thinking, so Naruto gave him a few minutes. Finally, he asked a question that Naruto found strange. "How is it that this Kyuubi seems to have so little effect on you other than your appearance?"

"Because we made peace when I was little, and I have a complete seal, which is another thing I wish to talk to you about." Gaara's eyes widened again, before he suddenly had to clutch his head as though in pain. Naruto watched for a few seconds, before jerking out a paper seal when Gaara released a loud, pain filled cry. Grabbing his shirt, Naruto stuck the seal to Gaara's chest quickly, before the ever present sand could push her away. Gaara's suffering seemed to end rather abruptly.

"Wha…?"

"As I was saying before we were so rudely interrupted, I wish to talk to you about possibly completing your seal, since I now see that making peace with Shukaku is probably an impossible proposition, for now at least." Naruto smiled slightly at Gaara, and then gave him a quick slap on the wrist when she noticed that he was dozing. His glare at that was comparable to winter.

"Don't give me that look, besides if you fall asleep now, you might sleep through the exam." Gaara only nodded his head in understanding. "Now, in about a week from now, we'll be given about a month off to prepare for the third round of the exam. Considering what we're planning to do, I think it would be best if we fixed your seal during that time so you can have as much time as you want to sleep, just don't sleep through the third round as well. And one last request, don't hurt anyone from Konoha too badly."

Gaara only nodded his head mutely, pulling at his shirt, feeling the temporary seal that the girl next to him had applied. Was she truly someone that he could trust? He could feel hope rising within him, just the proposition that he'd be able to sleep was a good one, but could she also be a friend? There was one way to find out.

"What is your name?" Gaara asked, as "Uzuta Shale" stood to leave. The girl looked at him, confusion written on her features. "What is the name that you are hiding, but is your true name?"

The girl stared at Gaara for several moments longer before once again smiling faintly. "My name at birth," she said quietly, as she leaned down to whisper in his ear, "was Uzumaki Naruto." She left immediately after whispering this to Gaara.


	7. Paper Test

All: AAAUUUGHHHH!

Tori: What are we screaming about again?

SA, Zas, and Saria: (sweatdrop)

SA: Because Saria's in college and we're starting to worry about exams already. You know, written exams, like what Naruto will be taking in this chapter?

Tori: Oh…. AAAUUUGHHHHHH!

Zas: Took her long enough…. Saria?

Saria: (looks up from her book) OH! The fic! I don't know I bother with disclaimers anymore, but, I still don't own Naruto…. TT and I'm going to rush through a bit of this so I can get to the test.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Naruto arrived at the Academy at exactly 8 am, as instructed. She had already showered and had pulled on a new set of clothes, opting to avoid her hunter outfit and her new clothes also. So today, she wore a pair of camouflage cargo pants, a tight, black v-necked shirt with three-quarter length sleeves, and a black handkerchief tied over her head. Her white hair was pulled back in a French braid. Naruto also carried a black backpack that had some scrolls, rations, and extra shuriken and kunai in it.

Sasuke and Sakura were easy to find in the crowd around the Academy, she just had to follow the pink blob that was squealing and fawning over another boy. Yep, Naruto decided that if Sasuke ever tried to runaway from the village, all she'd have to do to find him was release the "horrific pink beast."

Sakura didn't notice Naruto's arrival at first, and seemed ready to continue her fawning when Sasuke saw his escape.

"Alright, let's go," he said, pushing Sakura away for the umpteenth time, trying to take up the mantle of group leader. Naruto didn't believe it suited him, but she didn't really care at the moment. Hunter nins rarely worked in groups, but they were trained to cooperate in groups should the situation call for it, but they usually didn't have an established leader. As long as Sasuke didn't do something that she viewed as down-right stupid, he could think of himself as "leader."

Climbing the stairs up to the room, Naruto almost laughed when she felt a shift, genjutsu… Sasuke and Sakura also seemed to notice the genjutsu as well, though at different rates. Sasuke seemed to pick it up soon enough, but Sakura didn't pick it up until after Sasuke mentioned it. Before he did though, she saw a rather interesting show.

Most of the Genin gathered to take the exam were fooled by the genjutsu, and were currently congregated in front of a door that was being guarded by two Genin. Several of the aforementioned Genin; including a rather freaky looking one wearing a green spandex outfit and sporting a bowl-cut and horrific looking eyebrow. That was when Sasuke stepped up and commented on the genjutsu.

As the group was about to turn away and head towards the right room, the boy that was wearing the green spandex jumped forward.

"You're Uchiha Sasuke, aren't you?" The boy asked.

"Yes, who are you?" Sasuke replied.

"I'm Rock Lee!" The boy, apparently Lee replied, as he struck a pose that made Naruto sure that if he ever did that in battle, opponents and allies alike would die of shock, humiliation, and internal hemorrhaging. In that order.

He choose that moment to look past Sasuke when something seemed to catch his eye. Due to all the recent attention that Naruto had gotten, she recognized the look in his immediately, and breathed a sigh of relief when it wasn't directed at her.

"You must be Haruno Sakura. Be my girlfriend and I shall protect you with my life!" Naruto suppressed the urge to hoot with laughter.

"Definitely… not." Sakura's reaction was that of disinterest and disgust with a mild attempt at best to be polite. Lee's crestfallen look made Naruto fight another urge, this one to grin, even as Sakura grabbed both her and Sasuke and dragged them down the hall.

"Looks like you got a taste of what you give Sasuke everyday," Naruto commented.

"Shale, shut up!" Sakura said this as she suddenly gained a demon face. Sasuke said nothing, but he did make his trademark "hn" noise.

Before they even got to the room though, they had another run-in with that Lee guy. This time, he claimed that he wanted to fight Sasuke, but promptly started blowing kisses at Sakura. Again, Naruto suppressed the urge to laugh and comment on how familiar this looked. Surprisingly enough, Sasuke stopped the display, despite the fact Naruto knew for a fact that he was enjoying it as much as she was.

"Enough, you said you wanted to fight me." Sasuke stepped forward, prepared to start the fight.

"Yes, I did. They say that you are a genius and that genius will always come out on top. However, with my flaming passion of youth, I wish to show people that hard work can overcome genius; that a dead last can become a great ninja. So, I wish to defeat you, to come a step closer to proving my belief." He finished with the same pose as before.

By the end of this speech, Naruto couldn't decide if she should somehow applaud the guy, wince, scream bloody murder, or simply knock the guy upside his head and leave. Sasuke answered for her by entering the starting pose of his style and running at the guy. The Lee guy simply stood there, then evenly slid into a pose that Naruto recognized.

'Great, that kid has been taught Maito Gai's style, this could get nasty. If Sasuke looks like he's about to get in serious trouble, I'll step in.'

The fight was fast to say the least. Very few blows were exchanged before Lee partially unwrapped his arm bandages and kicked Sasuke up into the air. It didn't take a genius to tell that Sasuke was in trouble at that point. With a quick kick off from the ground, Naruto executed a fast double kick, one to Sasuke and one to Lee, and then caught both of the fighters by a foot. Lee, being faster and better trained, managed to catch himself on his free foot. Sasuke almost did likewise, but still had to catch himself with a hand.

"Save this for later on in the exam," Naruto said in a slightly angry tone, as she released each of the boy's feet, sending both a glare that screamed "Shame on you."

"Very good," a turtle suddenly shouted from the sidelines. "Lee, you were told not to use that move. Prepare yourself; Gai-sensei will be here shortly."

Lee looked authentically shamed, and bowed respectfully to the turtle.

"A turtle?" asked Sakura.

"A summons, I believe," Naruto quietly whispered to her teammates.

A second later, the traditional puff of smoke that symbolized the arrival of a Jounin popped into existence, on top of the turtle's back. And there, on the back of a turtle, was the guy that Naruto absolutely knew had to be the most insane, fashionably challenged, and ridiculous ninja ever to exist. And to make matters worse, he was in one of his worst poses.

Naruto had trained with Gai for a while when she was still an apprentice hunter nin. He had taught her the style of fighting that she used, so she was used to his antics and was able to tone him out until, someway or another, he made the picture of a sunset appear behind him and Lee as they started shouting each others names, while crying and hugging. Naruto had had enough.

Turning, she grabbed Sakura's and Sasuke's collars and dragged them from the room to the hallway leading to the room where the exam would start, after yelling that the exam was about to start. Neither of the two raised any fuse.

Entering room 303, they saw a large number of older looking Genin, as well as what remained of the rookie 9, considering that Naruto wasn't a member of those rookie 9. Naruto felt a little like an interloper, especially when the other 4 out of 6 Genin asked if she was the replacement for Kenosha. Neither Hinata nor Shino asked.

Ino seethed about another girl being put on HER Sasuke-kun's team, Shikamaru didn't seem to care, Chouji just continued eating, and Kiba was… Kiba.

"Hello there," Kiba said as he looked Naruto up and down, paying special attention to certain areas, apparently liking what he saw, until he saw a fist come up and hammer him across the jaw line, throwing him against a wall, HARD.

"HENTAI!" Naruto screamed at him before appearing in front of him, fingers on his throat. "Look at me like that again, and I will personally neuter you with a rusty spoon!"

"You shouldn't try to attract so much attention to yourselves," A voice suddenly rang out.

Naruto's head immediately swiveled in the direction of the voice, and saw a very handsome boy with silver hair, just a few years older than her group coming toward them.

'Good one right there,' Kyuubi's voice suddenly rang out in her head. 'Can definitely get something out of him, in more ways than one.' As Naruto mentally scowled at Kyuubi, said demon choose that time to recede in her head, snickering silently.

'HELL NO!' she screamed after the retreating demon, while sending images of her using his tails as shawls. No reply came.

"Are you all rookies?" the new comer asked in a quiet, almost shy sounding voice.

"Yeah, what about you?" Naruto's question gained a short laugh.

"No, this is my 7th time taking this exam." Everyone, except Shikamaru, looked crestfallen at the reply. "But, I have gathered much information; it's all on these cards." The boy pulled out a deck of blank cards. "All I have to do to gain the information is hear the person's name, then add a little of my chakra to display the information. See?" He did what he said to one of the cards and a map of the countries appeared.

Without tuning them out even a bit, Naruto turned her attention to the crowd of Genin also in the room. She easily picked out Neji and his team, which she found out, had the green freak from before. Next to come to her was Gaara's team, he looked like he was fighting to stay awake, but only a little. The two he was standing with looked a little distraught about something. Then, she smelled something. Turning her full attention back on the new guy (she thought she'd heard him say his name was Kabuto), and the rest, she found where the smell was coming from. Well well, looked like Ino liked more boys than just Sasuke, especially if the way she was looking at the Kabuto guy meant anything.

"Who are you interested in?" Kabuto asked Sasuke.

"Information on Sabaku no Gaara, Rock Lee, and Uzuta Shale." 'Shit' was the first thing Naruto thought.

"Alright, you already know their names, good," Kabuto answered as he rifled through the deck, picking out 3 cards. "First, Sabaku no Gaara, shows that he has no taijutsu, genjutsu, or ninjutsu… and his mission record for a Genin is incredible. He's even completed an A-rank mission, and returned without a wound on him."

Despite herself, Naruto couldn't stop herself from whistling softly at THAT one. She also happily noted that the card didn't mention Gaara's "tenant."

"Rock Lee, it says that he was trained by Maito Gai, and he's a taijutsu specialist."

'No surprise there,' Naruto thought.

"Uzuta Shale… very little information. Doesn't list any of her abilities, not even taijutsu… Mission records all seem normal, except that it says that at one point she had a private sensei…"

"I'm not going to tell you anything about me," Naruto declared hotly, when questioning gazes fell on her. "I need my secrets, and I don't intend to compromise any surprises that I might be able to pull off. Oh, and look out," she stated as she ducked, right as a Sound Genin flew over her, right where her head had been.

Said Sound nin took a swing at Kabuto, who appeared to have dodge, until his glasses suddenly shattered and he got sick.

"Sound country is not weak, Konoha has merely gotten soft. The Genin from Sound, Chuunin for certain." One of the Sound nin said with a smirk that simply unnerved Naruto.

"That's enough you maggots, unless you want to be disqualified right now," a new voice shouted. All eyes turned to the front where there now stood a very large jounin wearing a bandana. Behind him stood a bunch of uniformed Chuunin, all were smirking oddly.

"My name is Morino Ibiki, and I shall be the examiner for this first test. Now, line up, get a number and a test paper, and sit at the seat that has the number that matches the one you get." Naruto liked the guy already. He sounded like an expert in interrogation and torture, something that she was somewhat versed in as a hunter nin.

Everyone was silent as the gathered their tests and found their seats. Naruto made a point of making her chair make a loud scraping noise as she pulled it out, an action that earned her more than one glare, to which she answered with a smirk. This was going to be fun. She was sitting in the middle of a row, with Hinata on her right, and a strange guy on her left.

"This test will be done on a ten point deduction scale, cheating is NOT allowed. Anyone caught cheating will get a ten point deduction. If you're caught cheating 3 times, you and your entire team is out." This comment was met with several exclamations from all over the class.

"But if this is a 10 point deduction scale, then why are there only 9 questions?" one voice called out.

"The last question will be given 10 minutes before the test is over, 50 minutes after the start." Morino smirked in a sadistic manner, thoroughly enjoying watching most of the Genin sweat.

Naruto looked around the room, noticing people all showing discomfort also, but also noticing something else.

"You may begin!"

The sound of tests flipping over was lost to Naruto as she redid the math over and over, but it still held true. There was supposed to be one more person here… You were supposed to take this test in teams of 3. That meant, there were two people in this room who shouldn't be here… And one of them was sitting right next to her!

'How obvious can you get?' she mentally screamed at the guy as he immediately began filling out answers, going in order… not reading the damn questions! He finished fast, and she soon found a pattern, every 5 minutes he'd uncover his answers for a few seconds.

'If I can get a distraction, I won't have to risk being caught getting answers from him. I can get them all in one swipe!' Turning her attention, and sensing abilities toward the room in general, she started searching for something she could use.

'One of Neji's teammates is using mirrors on the ceiling, Shino has bugs, Kiba has Akamaru, Gaara has sand, that weird make-up guy on Gaara's team, Kankurou, has a puppet… and it's out… posing as… A SCOREKEEPER? Wait, that's perfect! He won't be able to tell people that it wasn't him, because that would be admitting he had it out… hehehe.'

Trying to look completely casual while hiding her molding chakra, she let her hand slip under the table, and from the center of her palm, a single chakra thread began to form. It slipped down to the floor, moved between several students, up several levels, then attached itself to the puppet and disconnected the lines that the other user had on it. She sensed shock coming from the puppeteer, who tried to regain control, but couldn't. A tiny bit of movement on Naruto's left signaled that the plant had just covered his answers again, now was the time.

A quick command over the chakra thread, and the disguised puppet suddenly jumped up, threw its clipboard at the original puppeteer, then jumped the Chuunin sitting next to it, raising quite the disturbance, and getting everyone's attention. With another fast set of hand seals, Naruto used Kawarimi to switch the positions of her test and the plant's before grabbing a pencil and writing her false name on the paper, right as she cut the chakra thread controlling the puppet. Now she was very glad she hadn't written her name on her original test, or else the guy would have had proof of what she did.

As things settled down again, Naruto turned her new test over, and waited for the final question, and watched as 5 minutes later the plant turned his paper over again, and promptly choked at the blank sheet that stared up at him.

Naruto yawned slightly, and considered taking a nap, but decided not to. While it was true that she now had all the answers with the test only having been on for about 17 minutes, she still wanted to see what else could happen. A minute later, the first team was failed and removed from the exam. Many more follow. Around the room, various forms of cheating were happening, and she could now see that Gaara was helping his teammates now by spelling out the answers using his sand since the puppet was now out. She felt it when Ino pulled some sort of technique, but said nothing. So, in the end, nothing along the lines of what she pulled was going to happen again, that much was obvious. Oh well, she now only had to wait for the 10th question.

By the time 47 minutes had come around, Naruto was bored beyond belief, but hadn't yet lost patience. Others weren't so lucky. She could tell from her abilities to hear that Sasuke was actually playing with his toes, Sakura was tapping a foot, and Hinata was twiddling her fingers beneath the desk. The plant was yawning constantly, most of the scorekeepers were shifting from having to sit too long, and that Morino Ibiki guy up front seemed too calm…

In total, Naruto believed there were maybe 38 teams left…

"Alright, time for the final question." Sounds of relief were heard all over the room. "You can choose to take this question or not, but the outcome is based upon what you choose. If you choose to not take this, your points will be reduced to zero and you and your team will automatically fail. If you choose to take this and you get it wrong, you will have to stay a Genin forever."

"What?" a female voice cried out. "How can you do that?"

"Because I'm the examiner this year, and my rules are the law. Now, who wants to quit?"

Naruto sat and watched as one-by-one, team after team quit. She held her tongue though, only shifting so she could meet Sakura's eyes and signal for her not to dare to do anything.

The pressure built for more people, then finally, there were no more people quitting. There were only 26 teams left.

"Congratulations, everyone here passes!" Naruto's jaw hit the floor, as did a number of other people's.

"What was with the 10th question then?" the same girl called out, Naruto now had her pegged as the girl from Gaara's team, Temari.

"To weed out the losers," was the simple reply. "As Chuunin, you would be expected to lead teams, and be able to stand such pressures." Reaching up, the examiner removed his bandana, showing multiple scars and old wounds, marks of torture, Naruto just knew they were. "You must know what sacrifices to make. Say you were on a mission, and the cost of success for this mission was the life of one of your teammates, should be take this mission? The answer is, no."

There should have been more said, but someone choose that moment to attack, through a window. A woman appeared, threw four kunai attached to a banner, and spreading it over the back wall, and Morino Ibiki.

"I'm the examiner for the second exam, alright everybody lets go! Follow me! Huh?" the woman, who's banner proclaimed that she was Mitarashi Anko, suddenly seemed to be doing a head count. "Umm… Morino, I think you lost one of the examinees…"

"Hey, where'd Shale go?" Hinata asked out loud, causing everyone to also realize the girl's disappearance. The question was answered a moment later as Morino Ibiki, and a sheepish looking "Uzuta Shale" pushed their way out from behind the banner.

"Anko, learn to control yourself better. This Genin attempted to attack you, and probably would've partially succeeded if I hadn't caught her," Ibiki stated in a very strained sounding voice.

"Hey, it's your fault that you caught my kunai the way that you did," Naruto immediately defended herself, knowing he was about to snap at her.

"Oh, she was, was she? Tell me, Ibiki, how did you catch her kunai?" Anko actually laughed when Ibiki pulled his arm out from behind the curtain, a kunai half stuck in it.

"It was a reaction," Naruto aka "Shale" said quietly as she returned to her seat and checked her paper, before writing a quick note on the back of it, then getting up and following the crowd as they left with Anko.

Ibiki simply tugged the kunai out of his arm, right as "Shale" marched back in and took her kunai back with a, "I think I might need that more than you." He then walked through the rows, picking up the paper tests, and then stopped when he saw the one that belonged to that "Uzuta" girl.

On the back of the paper, there was a note that said:

Morino Ibiki, you probably knew this, but I caused that puppet to go berserk, and then used a replacement technique to take a paper from one of the plants. Some words of advice: rather than having 2 plants, try having a team of 3, that way they can blend into the crowd better. Also, it is usually a better idea if they look as though they are having trouble with the test, not simply writing the answers, especially if they don't read the questions, or bother to act as though they did.

His fist holding the papers clenched slightly, he knew when someone was simply having it too easy with this test, and that "Uzuta Shale" girl had it too easy.

'She probably should have taken this test long ago,' he thought, as a grim smile spread on his face. 'The way she reacted to Anko's sudden entrance was too automatic, she did that without even a single thought. There is something wrong with that, definitely. Still, these next portions of the exam should be interesting to watch.'

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Saria: Well, did you like it? Hate it? Want it to be longer from now on? WHO CARES? REVIEW!

Tori: She just means that she wants some reviews, even if they're flames…

SA: She should expect a few at least, this chapter is about 9 pages long…

Zas: My fingers…(sniff)


	8. The Fruit

Saria: BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Zas: Why's she laughing so much?

SA: She's bored and probably imagining several of her favorite stories finally getting updated again… it puts her in a mood.

Saria, Tori, Zas: Wow…(staring, mouths agape)

SA: What?

Saria: I think that's the most you've ever said in one sentence…

Tori: Cookies!

…………………………………………………………………………...

The second exam was about to start, and everyone was lined up outside the "Forest of Death" as Anko had called it.

'Yeah right,' Naruto thought as she gazed at the place. 'If this place is even half as dangerous as she says it is, then I'm a fluffy pink bunny. My room looks more dangerous than this place. You probably only have to worry about having enough insect repellent in this garden.'

"Alright, everyone, take one of these waivers and fill it out. In order to get a scroll to participate in this exam, your entire team needs to fill them out." Anko was shouting this from the top of a large rock, with an insane looking smile pasted on her face.

"Ooh, so you're serious? What for?" Naruto replied, painting on her own smile.

"People have been known to die in this exam. I don't want any law suits incase someone does." Anko just continued to wear that smile.

"So, you're saying that rather than be worried if someone simply rose from the dead, you would be worried if someone rose from the dead and tried to sue? I'll keep that in mind!" Naruto just had to say it, just had to. The next instant she found herself tilting her head slightly to the left to avoid an oncoming kunai before ducking and turning sharply, one of her kunai meeting Anko's midway.

"So, girly has some spunk, I like that," Anko said, a more sadistic smile now in place as she and "Shale" faced off. "What's your name, girl?"

"Uzuta Shale," Naruto answered in a clipped tone. The tense atmosphere reigned for a few more seconds until…

"Excuse me, but I think you dropped this," said a very effeminate man, who was holding Anko's first kunai with his tongue, offering it to her. Naruto didn't like him already.

"Thank you," was Anko's reply as she took said kunai back, but Naruto sensed that she already didn't like this guy for some reason or another. Then again, who was she to talk?

Team 7 quickly filled out their release forms and received a scroll, and agreed for Sasuke to hold it, mainly because Sasuke wanted to hold it, Sakura would have given it to him, and "Shale" didn't want to bother with it.

The Uchiha quickly shoved the scroll into one of the pouches he had, then they moved out of the booth area and headed toward one of the various entrances to the forest.

It doesn't take a genius to know that white doesn't blend well in a forest, unless there is snow on the ground. Shale knew this very well, so as the team walked toward a entrance, she turned her attention inward, and started an argument with Kyuubi about why he should change her appearance, if only temporarily.

'KYUUBI YOU BAKA! I DON'T NEED EVERYTHING IN THE FOREST AIMING AT MY WHITE HEAD!'

'Kit, why do you want to change it so badly? You probably have very few people here that could be any threat whatsoever, and I think that that Gaara is no longer one of them.'

'It's the principle of the matter. Besides, should I really reveal my strength this early in the exam?'

'…'

'Kyuubi?'

'…' was once again the only reply that Naruto got.

'You can change it back once this exam is over…'

'…' and Naruto began to lose her patience. 'I swear that he's acting like a pouting child.'

'I HEARD THAT!' a reply finally came.

'Than hear this: if you don't change my hair, if only temporarily, then for the next 48 hours I won't sleep just so I can torture you with the Barney song.'

'What color?' the reply was automatic this time.

'Think forest,' Naruto's reply was dripping with sarcasm.

'…'

'It was a joke…'

'…'

'Ok, brown.'

'I like green,' was Kyuubi's interjection.

"WHAT?" Naruto hadn't meant to yell that out loud, luckily Sasuke and Sakura were busy trying to get rid of Ino, so neither noticed.

'Yeah, green. There's a lot of that in forests.'

'You…' Naruto began, and then she felt the chakra touching her hair already. 'Well, it's bound to blend in more than white…'

Next to her, Sakura chose that moment to scream, causing Naruto to shift to battle ready mode, even as she wondered if she'd ever hear out of that ear again and Kyuubi released a whole string of obscenities, mostly focused various, however unlikely, things that he wished that Sakura would do to herself. Then a hand grabbed her hair.

"Shale, your hair!" Sakura screamed, yanking her hair again.

"Yeah, part of my bloodline. Changed my hair color to blend in more… LET GO!" Thankfully, Sakura complied.

"What else can you do with your… bloodline?" Sasuke seemed little disinterested, but she could read him better than that.

"Stuff," she replied, and turned toward the gate to the forest that they had chosen, right as said gate opened. Not being one to waste time, she immediately sped into the forest, Sasuke and Sakura close behind.

Other than a Mist-nin who attempted to attack her when they had a short stop, Naruto was bored. The nin hadn't had a scroll on him, so she had simply tied him and stashed the unconscious body under a bush.

The first thing of interest that had occurred was when a gale force wind had hit them suddenly, and she had been blown up into the air and fell into a clearing not too far from where she had been.

The sound of a limb snapping behind her caught her attention. Turning, she saw an enormous snake hovering there.

"K...k…k…"

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Back in the first clearing, Sasuke and Sakura had just made first contact with the mysterious Grass-nin from before the test began. They were now…treed. Sakura still couldn't move right and Sasuke was still a little shaken by the killer intent they had felt coming from the guy.

Sakura finally snapped out of her trance to see Sasuke injured, while Sasuke continued to try to scan for the other nin. Neither knew where Shale was, but both hoped that it she didn't come face-to-face with the Grass-nin.

Said nin chose that moment to attack, leaving both genin with very little time to get out of the way.

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"KAWAII!" Naruto screamed, as she promptly grabbed the large snake's 'neck' and began to huggle it.

Said snake instantly turned tail and fled, right into the battle currently happening between Sasuke and the Grass-nin.

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There were very few things that could surprise either Sasuke or the Grass-nin that he was fighting. A large snake was a small surprise. Sakura screaming in terror at the sight of the snake was not. What Shale was doing left all other parties, except the snake, with their mouths scraping on whatever surface was beneath them.

"WAIT! I STILL WANT TO SNUGGLE!" Shale screamed after the snake, as she chased the thing up a tree, jumped off a strange nin's head, and continued pursuit.

"Something is definitely either loss or missing in her head," Sasuke stated plainly, both Sakura and the other nin nodding in agreement. Turning his attention back to the Grass-nin, it occurred to him that he was out matched here. There was only one solution. "If I give you the scroll, will you leave?"

"Maybe," replied the other nin, his attention still partly on Shale, who had pinned the snake down with a boulder and had proceeded to slowly strangle the thing in a hug. It saved itself by disappearing in a puff of smoke. He quickly turned his attention back to Sasuke, who threw the scroll toward him, only for it to be grabbed out of midair by one of Shale's chakra threads.

"Oh no, Sasuke, I'm not going to let you put us behind square one!" the girl declared as she shoved the scroll into one of her cargo pockets. "Besides, he might still try to kill us."

The Grass-nin burst out laughing at that point. "Very interesting, might I know what this wench's name is?"

"It's Uzuta Shale, you royal asshole. Geez, and I thought YOU were the King of Pricks, Sasuke, but this guy has you beat!" Naruto smirked at Sasuke, right as she lunged backwards, catching the Grass-nin in a rather vicious reverse back fist.

The nin caught himself easily, but Naruto was on top of him fast, this time, lashing out with a spinning low back sweep, throwing a pair of shuriken up and slightly to the right, catching the unsuspecting nin on his left arm. The attack was immediately cut off there with a tongue strike from the other, forcing Naruto to get out of the way using a hand spring jump, throwing her self back slightly before catching herself with a chakra thread. This time though, it was the Grass-nin that attacked the other who had just dodged.

Pulling out a kunai, Naruto grunted slightly as she used her left arm to guard against his strike before thrusting her kunai wielding right hand forward, slightly cutting the nin's left hand, just enough to draw blood. After that, the nin seemed to grow enraged and pushed forward harder than ever. Naruto's skills were being pushed to the limit. The two moved faster and faster, then the snake-like nin kept getting faster. Naruto had already thrown down her backpack, but she couldn't match the guy. Each time he lashed out, she defended with her arms as much as she could and tried to strike back, but she was starting to tire. The fight was too fast pace now for any strategy, it was just who could take worse punishment while dealing it out. She was bleeding in several places and tired, but Kyuubi was quickly healing the wounds. As for the other, he now sported a deep cut on his left arm, but otherwise only sported a few nicks from her kunai and bruises from her fists and feet. His nose was also a bit crooked.

Naruto finally couldn't take it anymore; she only had enough energy now to run and hopefully get Sasuke and Sakura to safety. Then, right as she turned to scream for them to run, a pair of teeth chose that moment to clamp down on her neck. Searing pain followed fast, and right before she blacked out, she heard the Grass-nin's voice again.

"You've proven that you might be an interesting subject. When you seek power, come looking for Orochimaru."

"You fruity fag," Naruto hissed out, before her vision went black and she fell.


	9. You Owe Me

Saria: WOO HOO! YES! AN UPDATE! AND I HAVE 3 OUT OF 5 TERM PAPERS FINISHED! CELEBRATE!

Tori: Don't forget, you have a doctor's appointment tomorrow!

Zas, SA, Saria: Party pooper…

Tori: Hey! It's not my fault!

Zas: No, you just reminded her and spoiled the mood!

Tori: Did not!

Zas: Did too!

Tori: Did not!

Zas, SA, Saria: DID TOO!

(The banter continues for a while)

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She was falling, falling, and falling. That was the last sensation that she remembered. At some point the fall must have ended though, and in a favorable way since she wasn't dead… But that didn't mean that she couldn't have been captured!

'Kyuubi, how long was I out?' Naruto's call wasn't answered; she didn't even hear the typical humming or grumbling that let her know if she was being ignored. 'Kyuubi, is something wrong? Kyuubi?'

Naruto immediately threw herself into the corner of her mind where Kyuubi was sealed, but the way was harder than normal. What should have been like a well worn path in her mind felt blocked and she found it increasingly harder to continue. 'Kyuubi?' she called yet again, as she entered the sewer like area at last. Still no sound greeted her.

Pushing forward still, she felt the darkness around her push at her, try to make her turn back, to keep her from seeing whatever was wrong. Finally, she stood in front of Kyuubi's cage within her mind, but something was seriously wrong.

Within the cage, Kyuubi looked emancipated, his fur was no longer sleek, and everything just screamed "WRONG."

'KYUUBI!' Naruto screamed, as she ran straight up to the gate, now too worried about her companion to keep her distance. Within the cage, Kyuubi stirred slightly, but didn't look at her, or even open its eyes. Something was very wrong indeed!

'Kit…' Kyuubi's voice was barely audible even in the dead silence.

'I'm right here,' Naruto answered as she reached through the bars of the cage and gently touched one of his forepaws.

'Kit, when you are out of the forest, get a medic to examine you. Something happened when that snake-man bit you, and I can feel it. Please kit, hurry…'

'Ok,' Naruto answered quietly, afraid to leave Kyuubi, but realizing that she couldn't do any good for him there. Rising to her feet, she quickly threw herself out of this section of her mind, forcing herself to wake up.

She didn't dare to open her eyes immediately, aware that it would give away that she was conscious again, instead she chose to try and figure out what her situation was with her other senses. She could feel that she was lying on something that was almost soft, but there were stones and twigs beneath her. Voices also could be heard.

"Orochimaru-sama, I don't understand why you placed the mark on this little girl (Naruto unconsciously clenched her fists). She doesn't seem to have any special abilities that I can see aside from being able to change her hair color."

'Uh oh,' thought Naruto as she realized that this person seemed to know that she had changed her appearance. Thankfully though, she and Kyuubi had been very thorough when they had made this appearance changing technique, she didn't need constant chakra flow to maintain it. Once a color was chosen, it was set until she chose to change it, or Kyuubi chose to change it.

"Kabuto, I don't expect you to understand, but this is about planning for the future. Once my new body is ready, we'd still need to keep that bloodline going now, wouldn't we? This girl is not a future host, she'll be the vessel that insures the continuation, and provides future host possibilities. She may not seem like much now, but in battle, she is fearsome opponent. In a few short years, her body will truly be exquisite, and ripe for the taking. Plus her ability to change her appearance may come in handy one day, especially if the trait is hereditary!"

'KABUTO! He's a traitor?' were the first words to come to Naruto at first. They were followed shortly by, 'THE HELL! This guy wants to use me as a breeding whore? Orochimaru or not, I need to knock this guy down a few pegs.' But her body refused to move enough. All she could manage was a slight rustle that caused the two to pause.

"Kabuto, you should get her back to her team now. I can wait to mark the Uchiha boy until later, after he sees what power can be gained from the seal. Also, make sure her team makes it to the next round, and stay in the competition this time also." Naruto felt herself being lifted up not even a few seconds later, as an extra pair of hands pushed her hair back from her neck and she briefly felt lips pass over a point on her neck before the voice that she assumed belonged to Orochimaru whispered several words.

"Absolutely exquisite, I wonder what games I'll teach you first…"

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Naruto felt nauseous, no two ways about it. Even 15 minutes later, as she pretended to stir again in Kabuto's arms, she felt nauseous from Orochimaru's words.

She was a hunter nin for crying out loud! She wasn't a kunoichi trained to seduce people, and she hadn't even given a real thought to perhaps getting married one day! No! Her role was in the shadows of field duty; she caught missing nin, assassinated targets if she had to, and gathered information, and she didn't do it by entertaining a man! Especially one that she should attempt to kill on sight!

She felt very, very, very nauseous. And very, very dirty that anyone could think of her in that way!

'Freaking pedophile,' she thought, even as she felt Kabuto slow down.

Pretending to jerk awake, and happily bashing Kabuto in the nose while doing it, she immediately began to struggle in his strong grip, freeing herself by force and ungracefully falling to the ground.

"Wh-what happened?" she declared as she feigned wooziness, and clumsily regained her feet. Something about Kabuto's face showed surprise, and a look that said he was mildly impressed. He'd better be, that guy had a viselike grip. "Kabuto?"

Kabuto's mask of innocent nice guy was instantly in place as he smiled and sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry, found you alone in the forest, so I decided to help by trying to get you to your team."

"That's ok, I can take it from here," Naruto replied, desperate to get away.

"Shale-san," Kabuto's voice piped up again, sounding slightly shy. "What happened to your hair?"

"Part of a Bloodline," Naruto resisted the urge to kick herself in the mouth after that.

"Ok, do you have both scrolls? I have an extra scroll of earth if not."

Naruto quickly checked her back pouch, praying the scroll was there, and that it was a scroll of earth, she didn't want to take anything from this guy, and the only way to get away with it right now was to choke up a scroll of earth. The scroll was a scroll of heaven. Damn.

Kabuto smiled again as he handed her the spare scroll, which she grudgingly accepted. It would get her out of the forest a lot sooner. Besides, Gaara was probably already out and would be waiting for some long needed sleep.

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Finding Sasuke and Sakura was easy, after getting away from Kabuto, taking the scroll of earth with her, she had summoned a fox. Upon finding them, to prove who she was, she summoned a fox and repeated Sakura's reaction in words of when she had changed her hair color. The case was sealed when she produced the two scrolls and tossed them to Sasuke. After that, they headed toward the tower and surprisingly enough in Naruto's opinion, met no other teams.

When they entered the tower, they opened the scrolls, mainly because they didn't know of what else to do.

"This says something about summon…" Sakura murmured, right as "Shale" and Sasuke grabbed both scrolls and tossed them further into the room, right as Iruka appeared.

"Hey al… WHAT THE!" Unsurprisingly, Iruka was staring at Naruto and taking in her once again change in appearance. Catching himself fast, and remembering that Naruto could change her appearance, he continued. "Congratulations on completing the second exam. I would like to treat you all too some ramen, but unfortunately you can't leave the tower grounds until the exam ends."

"Don't worry; you can make up for it afterwards!" Naruto yelled, not about to give up a free meal.

Both Sasuke and Sakura were slightly taken aback by Shale's strong reaction to the word "ramen."

Anyway, of the 5 allotted days that you had for the exam, you've only taken a little under a day and a half, so feel free to relax." Iruka smiled and waved as he disappeared.

Naruto felt her eyebrow twitching as she realized what "a day and a half" implicated, especially since she hadn't spent the night with Sasuke and Sakura. Turning to them, she slowly ground out, "I was gone over night?"

Sakura looked sheepish, while Sasuke gave her a surprised look.

"Well, yeah…" Sakura began, "You see, after that Grass guy did whatever he did to you, he grabbed you and carried you off when you started thrashing and yelling in midair I didn't hear what you said, but it seemed to gain his interest. Sasuke-kun and I followed, but we couldn't keep up, then early this morning, you showed up looking a little bedraggled and… what did he do to you?" Sakura asked this last part trying to make it seem as though she wasn't too curious, and looking as though she halfway expected Shale to start crying.

Sasuke was also watching. He hadn't noticed anything that would suggest an assault of any kind, but he knew that he probably should listen.

Naruto shrugged, and then answered, weaving a quick lie. "Apparently, when he attacked me last, he accidentally injected me with a poison. He didn't want you two hovering over him as he treated me, especially since it was supposed to be a delicate procedure, so he took me somewhere more secluded. I think he was just kidding about the killing us part yesterday, you know, try to scare so we'd give up without a fight. He left after I woke up this morning after giving me a firm warning about wandering around too long alone. Also, the second scroll I got, I took it off the hands of another person who was walking around alone."

Sakura seemed to accept the story, Sasuke was more suspicious, but couldn't find any glaring holes in it that he could attack.

"Now, if you two would excuse me, I have some business I need to attend to." With that, Naruto left the other two in the room and moved into the tower, tracking a certain chakra signature to its owner.

"What took you so long?" asked Gaara as she walked out onto the balcony and stood next to him.

"Someone thought it would be fun to knock me out, if I ever see them again, I'll be sure to at least return the favor." Naruto smiled slightly at Gaara, who was staring at her hair, much like everyone had done in this exam. "So, you ready to begin?"

"Yes," was Gaara's reply, as he continued to stare out into the forest.

"Well, common, lets go to your room so we can get some privacy, and also so I don't have to drag you all over the place once we're done."

Gaara simply nodded and led the way; Naruto followed close behind and quickly pulled an inventory on what she had in her pack, which Sasuke had recovered for her. Her scrolls were mainly luggage scrolls, and knowing what she planned to do after the exam, she had packed the things that she would need for the correcting of Gaara's seal. Upon entering his room, she immediately pushed Gaara to the side and used black ink to begin painting the sealing circle on the ground. The one she had chosen was complex, but would afford Gaara the best protection, so, an hour later, she was just putting the finishing touches on the circle.

Calling to Gaara, she quickly had him remove his shirt and lie down in the center of the circle, using more black paint to draw a seal similar to hers with a spiral inside, except she then put a six point design around the seal because an eight point would have been deadly for her, and over kill on a demon like Shukaku.

Placing her hands gently over the new seal, she quickly began the hand signs needed for this technique, all 32 of them. "Demon Suppressor no Jutsu!" The seal on Gaara's stomach flared up, blue in color at first, but as Shukaku was forced into it, it slowly turned red in color, quickly matching Gaara's hair, before fading back to black.

"Gaara, it's over," Naruto stated as she looked up to Gaara's face… to find him asleep already. Looking over at the single bed in the room, Naruto groaned. "You owe me when you wake up," she murmured as she hefted him up and carried him to the bed. "And you can start by going on a diet! GEEZ!"

On the way back to find her team again, and a medic for herself, she passed Kabuto. She could have sworn that as she walked past, just barely acknowledging him, that he smirked at her in a way that screamed, "I know something about you that you don't." Naruto suppressed the urge to lash out and laugh simultaneously, after all, Kabuto would eventually make a mistake that she could hang him for, and because she was sure that she knew more than he thought she did.

'Just you wait, Orochimaru, Kabuto. I'll show you both that I'm not some idiot little girl that can be used by either of you. Let the games begin.' In the dark recesses of her mind, she felt Kyuubi's approval, even if he couldn't talk to her anymore. Somehow it comforted her though to know they had at least that much communication left between them, no matter how insignificant it may seem.


	10. Let the Games Begin!

Tori: Man, she must be feeling inspired, she's updating a lot more than usual.

SA: (in a sarcastic tone) Oh no, I didn't notice.

Zas: Well, at least she's doing something…

Saria: Guys, I'M RIGHT HERE!

Zas, SA, Tori: Oops…

Saria: (sighs) Ok, here are the rules, if you like the story or chapter, drop a review. I know that its hard work, but I enjoy the input. Also, feel free to make suggestions!

VOTING HAS STARTED FOR PAIRINGS, SEE BOTTOM IF YOU WANT TO VOTE!

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Naruto was very fast to realize several things that could possibly go wrong if she were to try to seek the help of a medical nin. That would raise too many questions that she really didn't want to answer such as, "Who are you?" or "What's your medical history?" or maybe even "What is the reason for your visit?" She couldn't possibly say that she had never been sick before; or even worse, that the reason for her visit was because she couldn't hear the voice in her head anymore. That seemed like it would instantly buy her a straight jacket and a soft, cushiony room.

All things considered, she realized that her own problem with thinking was what got her in her current situation, the one where she is was now sitting in front of the Hokage, explaining what had happened, and watching as his face contorts in ways that it would be hilarious if it got stuck. Hilarious, if it weren't getting to her that the situation was very bad.

"Naruto, let me see your neck," Sandaime sounded slightly fearful when he said this.

Nodding, Naruto turned slightly and pulled her shirt collar down a little. The Hokage moved behind her and seemed to trace something that was right where her neck, shoulder, and back met. Abruptly she wondered what it was, until she remembered something that Kabuto had said in the forest about Orochimaru putting his mark on her.

'That son of a… Calm down, getting mad isn't going to help right now,' she thought, as she began trying to draw a mental picture of the seal based upon the tracing fingers on her back. It almost felt as though it were in the shape of three commas in a circle formation… 'If it looks similar to the Sharingan eye dots, I'm covering the damn thing with a tattoo.'

"We have to have this thing sealed, fast." Sandaime sounded more serious than ever, and there was a definite edge to his voice. "You were right not to see a medical nin, they wouldn't know what to do."

"Isn't there a way to just remove the seal, old man?" Naruto tried her best to not sound as they she were making a plea.

"I've researched a seal similar to that before, and I know of no way to remove it. Why do you ask, Naruto?"

Naruto took a breath, and then answered, "Its Kyuubi."

"Is Kyuubi trying to use the seal to break free?" the Hokage demanded, his eyes burning.

"No, the seal seems to be hurting Kyuubi very badly, I can't even hear him like I used too. When I actually went to see him, he looked as though he were very sick, almost like he was dying. Hokage-sama, you have to help him!" It sounded like a plea, and it was a plea, she didn't know if Kyuubi would be able to continue much longer.

"The best I can do is suppressing the seal, Naruto, I can't remove it. But maybe this might work out for the better. There are people that would like to get their hands on Kyuubi, and with him in that condition, they probably would be unwilling to touch or harm you. I can understand your feelings to a certain extent though, since Kyuubi has helped to keep you alive and safe, and maybe the suppression of that seal will help, but you must realize that it's all I can do right now. The only one who can remove that seal would be Orochimaru, either with a jutsu, or by his death."

Naruto stared at the Hokage as a bitter taste ran through her mouth. She knew he was right on all counts; that there were people after Kyuubi, that Kyuubi had saved her and had helped her, and that if she was going to get the seal removed, she would have to force Orochimaru to do it, one way or another.

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On her way back to find Sasuke and Sakura, Naruto absently ran a finger over the now suppressed seal, wincing slightly from a pain that was more internal than anything. She still couldn't talk to Kyuubi.

'Man is this going to be a long night,' she thought as she rounded a corner. 'All these years, right before I fell asleep, Kyuubi would always insist that we argue intelligently over something… Man did it take time to get decent at that…' She internally giggled as she remembered how when they first started these games she would always yell and scream at Kyuubi that she was right and he was stupid. Kyuubi had wound up ramming his head into one of the walls of his cage more than once, screaming that she was an idiot who had talent only in the physics of pranks. Eventually though, the head ramming had stopped as she became more knowledgeable, or maybe it was because they finally moved on to subjects that interested her. Since then, there had always been a debate every night, or something…

'Maybe I can get Sakura to debate with me, or maybe Sasuke if I can provoke him enough…' Naruto's thoughts were cut short though when she rounded a corner and she felt a slight tingle of chakra on her head. Rushing to a bathroom, she stared into the mirror as her green hair turned white once more, but that wasn't all that happened. Immediately after her hair was white again, the red chakra came down onto her forehead and spelled out the words, "Ha ha."

Naruto felt her eyebrow twitching slightly as she continued to stare at the mirror while trying to decide what course of action to take. The answer came quickly.

'I love you, you love me, we're a happy family! With a great big hug and a kiss from me to you, won't you say you love me too?' Naruto continued to sing this in her head for a good ten minutes, even making herself extremely sick of it before she left the bathroom and stopped the internal singing. 'And we're going to have a talk about your sense of humor, Kyuubi.'

In the hall, as she searched for Sasuke and Sakura, she was happy to see that Hinata's team was there also. However, as it was getting late, she simply gave the team a wave, winked at Hinata, and continued down the hall. And bumped into Kabuto who was talking to a Jounin from the Sound.

It took a lot of restraint on her behalf to not try to deck Kabuto in his now obnoxious looking face, especially when he smiled at her.

"Shale-san, I see your hair isn't green anymore. How are you doing?"

Naruto noticed how the Sound Jounin seemed to react to her name, and turned also to stare at her. She also noticed the strange way that he moved and was reminded of the Grass-nin from the forest. 'Oh man, it's the pedophile!' Giving herself a quick slap though, she turned back to Kabuto and offered him a smile as well.

"I'm doing well, though I did have a bit of a time out in that forest. I swear, I thought the Grass-nin that I was fighting poisoned me! My chakra has been acting up a little ever since we ran into each other. I'm so glad that Hokage-sama was willing to help." She laughed internally when she saw the pedophile's slight grin fall for just a second before he slapped it back on.

"You say that you were poisoned, might I look at the area infected? I'm pretty good with poisons." Naruto raised an eyebrow at Kabuto, and then shook her head.

"Nah, I'm sure what the old man did will be fine. He's old but he knows his stuff. Anyways, it's late and I still need to find my team…"

"Find who, Shale?" Sakura's voice asked from behind her.

"You guys," was Naruto's reply as she turned to talk to Sakura.

"Well, we found you, so lets get some dinner and some sleep," Sasuke's voice said as he appeared from behind Sakura.

Naruto nodded, happy to have a reason for neither Kabuto nor "The Pedophile", as she had decided to call him, to follow or "help" her.

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The next three days of the exam went as one would expect in the tower, if they knew that there was a prankster, her two sidekicks, a finally rested demon vessel, and a whole tower of victims just asking to be made fools of. Absolutely NO ONE was immune to the pranks that happened, not even the Jounin or Hokage. This event was later referred to as "The Massacre of Seriousness."

Naruto had met up with Hinata and Neji at dinner the night that her seal was sealed and had immediately begun making plans for the pranks that they would pull, Naruto making sure to insure that Kabuto was the butt of many of them since she didn't want to risk giving any signs that she knew that "The Pedophile" had invaded the exams. The results of their plans became known immediately after dinner and continued until the end of the exam.

Several things that Naruto always knew were that when on missions, you would sometimes need distractions, whether they are to confuse or distract an enemy, or simply to entertain yourself. Knowing this, she always packed several scrolls with supplies in them, and that night, she made sure that she, Hinata, and Neji all bathed first before dumping a large bottle of blue dye into the baths, right before Sasuke, Sakura, Shino, Ino, Chouji, and Lee all went to get baths themselves. The results were 6 genins who were stained blue, with Ino and Sakura crying for their hair which also got colored. Lee on the other hand, was overenthusiastic about what had happened and started looking for a bottle of green dye so he could truly be "the beautiful green beast."

Naruto had to run away from Neji for half the night after that one, mainly because Neji felt as though he saw more than enough green on his teammate already. His other teammate, Ten-ten, took over the chase for the rest of the night, or attempted to chase, Naruto evaded her within 5 minutes.

The next morning Gaara woke up, and also wanted to do something different. So he joined them that morning, fully rested for the first time that he could remember, and helped them pour pink dye all over Kabuto and itching powder into his shorts. Naruto even planted some gum that would make Kabuto fart when he chewed it.

By lunchtime, all sorts of chaos had started, everything from a genjutsu that made it look like Kakashi had decided to change his look to something a bit more Gai-ish, but looked normal to Kakashi himself, to the examiner, Anko, falling for a simple exploding dango trick, to half the occupants in the tower being caught in various traps and getting feathers glued all over them. Sasuke looked like a pink rooster with blue skin, Naruto had photographic evidence.

Naruto was even able to ensnare both Kabuto and "The Pedophile" into a custom made trap that shaved off a good bit of Kabuto's hair and stained Orochimaru's hair and clothes with worm infested mud that smelled like sewage.

It wasn't all fun and games though, Gaara still being new to the group, but Hinata and Neji being well-known mavericks; it wasn't long before the finger was pointed their way, especially since they hadn't been pranked. No one except their group, the Hokage, and Kakashi knew that Naruto was usually the ring leader, and they used that to keep themselves from being pranked. Still, Naruto hated having to prank Hinata and Neji to make them look innocent, so she went easy on them.

By the end of the exam, everyone was wary of everyone else, especially Kabuto who surprisingly enough, hadn't figured out who had shaved his head. So, they truly looked like a ragged group as they stood before the Hokage at the end of the exam. Sakura and Ino had both had to cut their hair to get the dye out, but it didn't matter now, both looked exhausted and angry, especially because of the dye that turned their teeth purple. Kiba had gotten an impromptu manicure and had woken up in a red dress; he still hadn't gotten the polish off. Shino still looked a little blue, but nothing else. Shikamaru was looking cross with his hair up and sprayed yellow with a bright red sign on the back of his shirt that read, "I LOVE SQUIRRELS!" Chouji looked a little blue, and was very angry since he'd also lost all of his food. Lee had successfully found green dye, enough said. The Sound team was in various colors of both pastel and obnoxiously bright colors. Everyone was in disarray.

Naruto beamed proudly at Neji, Hinata, and Gaara, each had become almost friends during their stay, though Hinata still seemed a bit nervous around Gaara.

They all listened as the Hokage began his explanation of the exam, but huffed slightly when he declared that these exams were an alternative that they had come up with for war, she knew that already. He forgot to mention though that if friendships were to arise, then they opened doors to possible future allies.

He then announced that the next portion of the exam would be a series of one-on-one battles. That was fine by her, and with everyone else it looked like. So, there would be 21 participants, someone would either get an automatic buy to the next round, or would have to fight twice. She was willing to bet that it would be the latter so there would be an even number.

Sasuke was up first against one of Kabuto's teammates, she didn't even bother to learn his name.

'Cheater,' was all she could think when she saw Sasuke execute a maneuver similar to the one Lee used on him earlier. Lee looked crestfallen.

After the fight, they all watched the medical ninjas remove the unconscious body of Sasuke's opponent, as they also pushed Sasuke out to check him for wounds. Naruto smiled as she watched him protest, but was taken anyway. Turning back to the scoreboard, she felt her breath hitch when she saw who was up next.

The scoreboard read: Inuzuka Kiba vs. Uzumaki Naruto.

"WHAT?" Kiba was screaming, as he looked around for someone who could possibly be Naruto, seeing no one though.

Naruto on the other hand looked down at the Hokage who smiled and nodded.

"Ref, Naruto isn't here, she's not even a ninja! How cou…" Kiba trailed off as "Shale" suddenly jumped from the balcony and entered the ring, ignoring the varying looks of shock that she received from all around the room, minus the Hyuugas, Gaara, the Hokage, and her teacher.

"I'm Naruto," she said to the referee, before turning back to face Kiba from where he stood on the balcony. "So, are you going to give up?"

"There's no way that I can lose to a drop out like you!" Kiba shouted as he jumped into the arena himself, confident of an easy win.

"You didn't look that tough when I clocked you before." Naruto smirked at Kiba's face as he turned beet red.

"You didn't even graduate the academy normally. You're probably the weakest person here, no matter if your appearance changed or not, you're still a loser! You'll always be a loser!"

Neither Hinata or Neji took these comments too well, they sounded like how their relationship used to be, before Naruto had set them straight. They glanced at each other quickly before nodding slightly and pulling out an enormous banner.

"GO NARUTO!" yelled Hinata, as she held up her side of the banner.

"KICK HIS ASS!" Neji yelled, proudly displaying his end. The banner showed a smilie of Naruto making a victory sign with her fingers and read, "Naruto can't lose."

In the arena, Naruto blushed at the sight of the banner, Kiba fumed, and the examiner coughed slightly, though to Naruto it sounded like he was covering a laugh.

"You may begin the fight," the examiner said, as he "coughed" again.

"Alright, Akamaru. This is just a girl, an easy win!" Kiba declared as he pulled a puppy out of his jacket. He thankfully didn't notice the tick mark that appeared on the back of Naruto's head, or Neji and Hinata begin to make bets on how long he would survive the fight. Neji chose to be optimistic and bet on three blows, Hinata bet on only two. Both were wrong.

'He is going to suffer for that… SUFFER!' Naruto thought, as she charged forward the second that Kiba slid into a battle ready stance, he didn't even see her coming.

The fight that followed wasn't as much a fight as it was a beating.

Naruto's first blow struck Kiba across the face, as her left hand shot out to grab his foot and drag him back to receive three alternating kicks and punches before she twisted her arm and slammed him into the floor back first, then continued slamming him into the hard ground. She finished with a quick toss, sending Kiba flying over her shoulder and into a wall.

Up on the balcony, there were varying degrees of shock being expressed. The genin, minus Hinata and Neji, were all shocked that Naruto was here, under their noses the entire time. Most were also shocked at the brutality with which she beat down Kiba, who was supposed to be the second best genin in their year at sparring.

Orochimaru and Kabuto also watched the beating, Kabuto slightly impressed with the girl's speed, Orochimaru just loving the brutality.

After her match, Naruto sat down with Neji and Hinata, avoiding all the stares she was receiving from around the room. They would have to get used to her presence.

The next few matches were interesting though. In the match following Naruto's, Neji had to fight Ino of all people. The girl hadn't even attempted to continue, knowing she couldn't compare.

Shikamaru had faced a girl named Kin from the Sound, and won.

The next match was Temari from the Sand against Ten-ten, it ended badly for Ten-ten and left a very mad Neji.

Hinata had faced off against Sakura then, and won very easily. Naruto and Neji had both laughed at the pairing, after all, what hope had Sakura had?

Shino then faced off with a guy named Zaku from the Sound, another win for Konoha.

Then Kabuto was called forward to fight his teammate, he won, but barely.

Dosu had fought Lee after that and surprisingly enough, Dosu had won when Lee started getting sick from disorientation.

The last battle was between Gaara, Chouji, and Kankuro, battle royal style. Kankuro had quit immediately, and Chouji was defeated easily enough by Gaara's sand. Naruto found the sand fascinating and immediately starting thinking of ways to defeat it.

Once the matches were over, the winners lined up on the floor before the Hokage. Sasuke had just rejoined them and was giving her the evil eye, even as one by one they drew lots to decide the pairings for the next round, which would be held in a month. The pairings were as follows:

Sasuke vs. Gaara

Naruto vs. Temari

Dosu vs. Kabuto

Neji vs. Shikamaru

Hinata vs. Shino

As everyone gathered back together to leave the tower, Naruto made sure to leave her own little memento, as childish as it seemed. On the side of the building that they left from, she used her chakra to etch a picture of Gaara standing over a beaten Sasuke. Ino and Sakura had railed on and on at her for that one.

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Saria: Alright, that's 8 pages, happy now?

Tori and Zas: (nod)

SA: (shrugs)

Saria: Alright, time to start a new part in this; it's called VOTE FOR PAIRINGS! I've already chosen who Naruto will be with, but feel free to vote for anyone else! Also, feel free to write any suggestions that you may have in a review.


	11. Would You Leave?

Saria: Alright people, I would really like more input on possible pairings, with the exception of Naruto. As for other pairings, I'm leaning toward a Hinata/Gaara pairing and I don't know about Neji…

Tori: Admit it, you want him for yourself, and you wouldn't mind getting Itachi either! You LOVE long-haired bishies!

Saria and SA: SHUT IT!

Zas: Yeah, no one wants to think of that.

Saria and SA: (blush simultaneously)

Zas: Oh great, don't even start with that!

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Naruto smiled cheerily as she waved good bye to Gaara, Hinata, and Neji before heading after Kakashi with the intention of trying to get him to teach her something. She noted that Hinata and Gaara both blushed slightly as the group parted and they said good bye to each other.

'Good for them, and thank God it's not me! I hope that Hinata doesn't relapse into a nervous wreck again though.' Naruto also noticed Neji's scowl at Gaara when he noticed Hinata's slight blush. 'This could prove problematic…'

Naruto found Kakashi as he was packing up, preparing to go on a training trip with Sasuke, alone.

"Why am I not surprised?" She said blandly to him as he hefted up a backpack, Sasuke scowling at her.

"Naruto, I arranged a private instructor for you. I need to work with Sasuke now."

"Yeah, dobe. Go bug someone else."

Naruto bristled angrily at Sasuke's addition, but managed to just barely hold back a scathing remark of her own. "Kakashi, let us not forget that while I may not be a permanent student for you, and just a temporary replacement, you are my sensei as well for right now. You are abdicating your duties towards me and Sakura by choosing a favorite in this situation, and something tells me that this isn't the first time that this has happened."

Both Kakashi and Sasuke were staring at her, mouths agape at the end of her reply.

"Fine," Naruto said with a sigh. "Who is this replacement?"

"Kakashi-kun, is this the student you wished for me to train?" Naruto recognized the voice, and she was horrified that Kakashi would dare to call HIM in. Turning, she stared up at the now President of her fan-club, the closet pervert, and the killer and spoiler of fun, Ebisu.

"NOOOOOO!" Naruto screamed, instantly latching on to Kakashi. "Anybody but him, ANYBODY but HIM!" Then she noticed how happy Kakashi looked, and how he wasn't listening to her at all.

"Yes Ebisu-sensei, this is the student."

"But Kakashi, this guy is a weak PERVERT! And why am I mentioning THAT at all, I probably just helped this guy climb three rungs on your ladder of people that you like." Naruto was making several faces, not acting at all like the Hunter nin that she was.

"Dobe, do what Kakashi says." Sasuke was looking exceptionally smug. Naruto honestly hoped he'd just TRY to leave Konoha so she could kick his butt.

"Come now, I can't be that bad!" Ebisu was laughing as he attempted to pat Naruto's head.

"Think orange paint," Naruto snarled as she ducked under his arm.

The "elite" tutor froze at that moment, a look of embarrassed horror etched on his face. "Naruto…" he whispered, horror creeping even further onto his face.

"So you two know each other? Good, saves me the introduction. Well, she's all yours, Ebisu-sensei." Naruto really hated Kakashi at that moment.

'When he gets back, I'm going to use my appearance changing technique to give him lime green hair and tell Gai that he was trying to show his love of the "Power of Youth."'

"Why do I have to be stuck with you?" She gave Ebisu a dirty look, which he returned with a haughty one. "And wipe that look off your face, there are bound to be children about."

"So, you did graduate from the academy after all, should have known from the stories that the honorable grandson was telling me of you, though none of them involved this."

"He doesn't know. Right now, or until a little while ago, I was posing as a different person for the Chuunin exams. I made it to the finals, so to legitimize my competing; the Hokage allowed me back my name."

Ebisu nodded, not looking entirely convinced. "So, should we start with the absolute basics? Even if you graduated from the academy, it wasn't a normal way. Your basics are bound to be your weakness!"

Naruto GLARED at the guy. HE had the audacity to assume that she was weak in something like the basics? Her one major weakness was genjutsu, but she was passable in it. "You're one to talk, you seem weaker than me."

Ebisu looked surprised to say the least. "Just because you were able to get away with those dirty tricks from before doesn't automatically mean that I'm weak. I'll make you a deal though, run away."

Naruto could only stare at the guy confused.

"If you can get completely away from me, I'll withdraw from this arrangement and help you find a more suitable trainer."

Naruto gave him a very satisfied look. "Fine, but several things you should know first, so you won't throw a fit after. One: I graduated secretly from the academy at seven."

Ebisu's jaw dropped to his chest.

"Two: immediately after graduating, I began training to become a Hunter nin."

The jaw was scraping at his knees now.

"Three: I've been an official, though secret Hunter nin since I was nine."

A little more and the closet pervert would fall.

"And four: by the time I was ten, I was hunting down Chuunin with a partner, and was hunting them solo before this exam even started."

The closet pervert fell.

"So, I'll be seeing you again at around dusk so we can search for someone else to train me." With that, Naruto disappeared, careful to leave no trace of herself.

Ebisu tried for almost three hours to locate the girl, then, finally, as the sun was setting, he felt a tap on his shoulder, and sure enough, there was Naruto.

"WHERE DID YOU GO?" the man screamed at the girl's sleepy looking face.

"The last place you'd ever look. I went to your place."

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Ebisu was trying to test her, she knew it. Why else would you have to run up walls, hop buildings, and water walk while just looking for a more qualified temporary trainer? Naruto really wanted an answer to that question.

The answer was Ebisu seemed to be either really trying to find a weakness to exploit, or he had someone in mind, and they liked bars and hot springs. Finally, Ebisu seemed to find exactly who he was looking for. They had found a pervert, who was peeping into a women's bath. Naruto decided that she liked the guy though when he knocked out Ebisu when the idiot tried to attack him for "Doing such a dishonorable thing."

Her opinion dropped right back down when he turned to peep again, despite the fact that she was standing right there. She knew that when it came to perverts, there was only one way to deal with them.

"A THOUSAND YEARS OF PAIN, KUNAI STYLE!" The resulting scream could probably be heard all the way in the Hidden Sand village.

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"WHAT MAKES YOU THINK THAT I'M GOING TO TEACH YOU! I DON'T EVEN LIKE YOU!" the pervert, who Naruto now recognized as one of the men who had started hitting on her not long before the Chuunin exam started, the one that claimed to be an author.

Naruto smiled, she knew exactly how to convince his type.

"Henge!" Naruto's form was instantly replaced by an older version of herself, wearing her birthday suit. The only thing that even somewhat covered her was her crystal white hair that fell completely loose around her.

"I LIKE YOU NOW! FULL POINTS!" Naruto sweat dropped, it didn't seem like ANY adult males were immune to this jutsu.

"Will you train me now?" She asked in a voice that she knew would sound very cute.

"On one condition, you either need to stay in this form all the time, or wear only a bikini." WHAM!

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_Three weeks later_

Naruto had finally gotten the few techniques that Ero-sennin was willing to teach her, and each was in its own right difficult.

The first technique that he had showed her was Toad Summoning, which had led to an enormous argument that the Hokage had gotten involved in. The negotiations lasted over a week before Naruto was even willing to touch the contract, let alone summon a toad.

Her first attempt however, had been very funny when she summoned a tadpole on her first try since she still had her hold ups over summoning a toad instead of a fox. The resulting jeering from Ero-sennin (Jiraiya), had caused her to get pissed off and she immediately summoned the boss frog, Gamabunta, which led to yet another argument.

He had then shown her a hair defense technique, a swamp summoning technique, and a chakra techniques on the feet that could make her go faster than she could originally.

On her first attempt of the hair technique, she had "accidentally" stuck the pervert in the butt. He began leaving for days at a time after that to prevent further "accidents".

Jiraiya hadn't been able to leave fast enough though when she started summoning the swamp. That wound up with both of them covered in slimy water, and he had decided to meet in the hot springs district no less. The Third and bath house owners had been very angry about that one.

Finally, deciding that it was too dangerous to practice the speed technique in the woods, she had gone to the Hyuuga mansion to ask Neji and Hinata to help her. They hadn't proven to be much help since all they could do when she was up to speed was yell at her and hope that she heard. This didn't work to often though, which showed from the various trees and walls that had Naruto-shaped imprints and holes in them.

The last week that she had before the exam finals, she noticed something weird. Gaara had started to appear hanging around her more and more often. Finally, he asked what seemed like a rather ridiculous question.

"Naruto, if I asked you to, would you take Hinata and Neji and leave Konoha during the exam finals?"

Naruto raised her eyebrows, staring at Gaara in slight shock, before shaking her head. "No and neither would Hinata nor Neji leave if you asked them if they would. As ninja of Konoha, our fates are tied to this village, and this is where we belong."

"Why are you loyal to this place? After all that its people have done to you?"

"Because, I have people here who mean enough to me that I wouldn't. Gaara, is something going to happen here?" Naruto had gotten hints and tips from people before coming back to Konoha, but no definite answers.

Gaara looked away for a moment, and then turned to her quietly. "The Sand has joined forces with the Sound and is planning to attack during the exam finals. I wanted you three to get away so you wouldn't get hurt or killed."

Naruto felt her eyes widen as she stared at the other vessel, now understanding him. But once again, she shook her head.

"Gaara, that isn't going to make us leave our loved ones and get us to run away like cowards, I think that I need to tell this to the Hokage, because remember Gaara, there are far more people in Konoha than just Hinata, Neji, and myself."

Gaara hadn't argued, hadn't tried to stop her, and hadn't asked her to leave again. He had however gone with her to inform the Hokage.

The rest of the week was met with the various ranks of ninja in Konoha, including some of the advanced genin to start making preparations for the attack. Food was put into the stores of the shelters in the Hokage monument. Traps were set around Konoha's walls and various seals used to help ward off attacks. The smiths were also taking weapons and either sharpening them or repairing them in some way. All of these activities were disguised as preparations for the exam finals.

Naruto's last week of preparation for the finals was also spent helping with these preparations, since she was considered an advanced genin. Her duties were to assist the Academy instructors in making an evacuation plan and to help stock up the food stores in the shelters, inconspicuously. She made very good use of her stealth training, especially in disguise. Needless to say, there seemed to be a few new fat people walking around Konoha. She viewed it as time to come up with a battle plan, and since she was out of contact with Kyuubi, she had to do it off of her own notes. And she already knew to try to conserve chakra and jutsus for later matches.

There was one thing she knew for sure though about her opponent, Temari; that girl seemed the type to show up with a plan if she had any notice in advance. Also, her fan was going to be a small problem. She would either need to remove the fan or force Temari into close quarters combat, not an easy feat.

Finally, the day of the finals arrived. Naruto had been awake for a while and was putting the final touches on her plan about what to do about Temari, even as she walked into the stadium where the fights would be held.

Naruto nodded slightly to Gaara when she saw him, but noted that Sasuke was no where to be seen, neither was that Sound guy, Dosu for that matter. Temari was looking confident though, as were several of the other participants. Hinata was slightly twiddling with her fingers, but hadn't lowered her head. Shikamaru just looked bored.

Naruto stood next to Hinata and gave her friend a reassuring smile. Hinata would do fine, she was certain of it. Neji, who was on Hinata's other side, looked somewhat concerned for his cousin, but didn't mention it. He greeted Naruto with a nod, then turned his eyes back onto the stadium, secretly glancing at Hinata every few minutes to see if she was ok.

Several minutes later, the jounin that would act as the referee for this round called for the attention of the contestants and audience.

"Since Uchiha Sasuke hasn't yet made it back for his match, we shall skip his turn and go straight for the second match. First up shall be Temari from the Sand vs. Naruto from the Leaf. Will the other contestants please leave the arena?" The pause that followed was interrupted by the other contestants leaving the arena and Temari and Naruto taking up their positions on the field.

"You may begin!"

Immediately after judge had called for the beginning of the match, Naruto ran behind the tree in the arena and made several kage bunshins. Pulling out a kunai, she and three bunshins jumped out from behind the tree, throwing their various projectiles.

Temari's fan opened instantly, and a quick wave later the projectiles were down, but her opponent now had her boxed in with one Naruto standing at every 90 degree point of her. Two pulled out kunais and ran at her, while the other two threw shuriken.

Temari jumped up to avoid the shurikens, right as the two Narutos that held the kunai jumped at her. Sweeping her fan down, she managed to destroy one of the clones as it lunged at her, but the other twisted in midair and landed a good cut across Temari's side.

That was when one of the Narutos that was still on the ground started making hand seals, and summoned a medium sized swamp that covered the area that Temari should land in. She landed with a very loud "SPLASH!"

Focusing chakra to her feet, Naruto launched herself into the swamp area, keeping herself just barely out of the goo, and kicked Temari's right hand, pulling a scream from the girl, and sending her fan into the water beneath them.

Naruto just barely dodged Temari's retaliatory kick, but got caught with the girl's tackle, sending them both skidding out of the swamp and onto hard land again. The resulting brawl though was funny in its own right as Temari's right wrist was broken from Naruto's kick, and she was definitely right handed. Temari would try to grab Naruto, and Naruto who had abandoned her plan and was winging it, would stab the limb with a senbon at an immobilizing point. After three attempts, Temari was out of limbs. And out of the match.

And Naruto hadn't revealed any techniques that she had aside from the swamp summon and kage bunshin, and had barely used any chakra.


	12. Huh?

SA: (blink)

Saria: (blink blink)

Zas: (blink blink blink)

Tori: (blink…)

All: RUNAWAY! (the evil pink bunnies are trying to take over the world)

Saria: The apocalypse shall be known when pink bunnies take over the world; French maids assist them, and the blonde bimbos from outer space come to Earth to make Britney Spears their queen. We are at a stage one alert!

Tori: You're just upset because you know that you're soon going to have to up the rating on this fic. And also because the V.P. of the Anime club practically told everyone not to vote for you.

Saria: Shut up.

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Naruto smiled as she walked up to the contestants booth, even forcing herself to keep it as Kabuto walked past her and down the entry way to the arena. He was back several minutes later when the referee was told that Dosu's body had been found before the finals.

Naruto made it a point to stand on the other side of the box, but with Neji going down for his match, she was left with a space next to her that Kabuto quickly took, even as she tried to pull Gaara into it. The result was that Gaara was glowering and almost sitting on Kabuto, Naruto was silently cursing Kabuto's speed, and Kabuto had a very interesting view of Gaara's sand gourd.

"Naruto-san, how have you been?" Kabuto's question seemed innocent enough, Naruto wasn't fooled. "I haven't seen you around Konoha very much this past month, have you been training hard?"

"Yeah," she answered shortly, not even wanting to look at him. Gaara got the message fast enough and sent Kabuto a glare that screamed "Back off!" Kabuto got the message fast, but Naruto felt as though he just pretended to be intimidated.

"Thanks," she whispered to Gaara as soon as Kabuto was away.

"No problem," Gaara replied. "You will not have to worry about my involvement in the upcoming battle."

Naruto knew that that meant that although Gaara wasn't going to fight against her and Konoha, it didn't mean he would assist them either. She still smiled though when she saw him glance at Hinata though. Her smile grew bigger, more fox-like when a few minutes later, Hinata glanced at Gaara, a small blush on her cheeks.

The fight between Neji and Shikamaru started at that moment. To say it was interesting was to say the least, both were short range fighters, and both were unwilling to approach the other. In fact, a good portion of the match was a contest of throwing weapons, which was interesting in that Neji started throwing some rather interesting objects. One of those objects was a pair of female underwear attached to a kunai, meant to knock Shikamaru off balance. It did. It also earned another reaction.

"NEJI! YOU UNDERWEAR THIEF! SO YOU'RE THE ONE RESPONSIBLE!" Naruto was screaming this from the box even as she tried to jump from it, head first, at Neji. What was saving the boy from annihilation was an ANBU squad who had managed to grab Naruto by her hair.

Down in the arena, Neji was using the distraction to jump at Shikamaru whose face was redder than a tomato because at that moment he was holding a girl's pair of panties. The normally lazy boy for once looked very shocked. He barely was able to force out his shadow in time to stop Neji.

"I GIVE UP!" Shikamaru screamed at the judge, raising his hand, unknowingly the one holding the underwear, drawing another loud scream from the direction of the contestants box.

"What? Why?" Neji demanded.

"Because, you caught me totally off guard, and my shadow will only last a few more seconds at best because of that shock. Oh, and here." Shikamaru shoved the underwear into Neji's hand. "I don't want to be caught dead around her holding these." With that, the laziest ninja in Konoha suddenly transformed into one of the fastest as he high-tailed it out of the stadium, right as the ANBU lost their grip on Naruto.

"NEJI! YOU PERVERT!" Naruto was a very angry little girl, and she was heading straight for Neji.

"AAAAUUUGHHH!" Neji screamed as he turned tail and ran the way that Shikamaru had taken off in.

As soon as the two were out of sight, Naruto pounced on Neji.

"Great job! I think that they were completely fooled!" Neji said, hoping beyond hope for a miracle.

"Who's fooling?" Naruto asked angrily, as she prepared to give her friend a good beating.

Neji's prayer was answered in the form of an ANBU, who reported to Naruto that the Hokage wished to talk to her.

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Hinata's fight was well underway when Naruto finally appeared in the Hokage's booth where he and his guest, the Kazekage, were watching the match. She noticed that the Kazekage seemed to tense slightly when she appeared, but she wrote it off as his shinobi senses kicking in with her approach.

"You wished to talk to me, Hokage-sama?" Naruto asked this, being certain to sound formal, especially in front of the other Kage, as to not raise suspicions. The Hokage's answer was quiet, so quiet Naruto had difficulty hearing it despite being right next to the old man.

"Yes, Naruto. In my office there is a secret compartment behind the pictures of all the Hokages, both past and present. Call it paranoia of an old man, but if I don't live to see the end of this conflict, go get what is in that compartment. Give the scroll labeled "Enma" to Asuma, he'll know what to do with it. There are also some scrolls with various people's names on them, and a date to give them to that person, please deliver them. You won't be able to open any meant for you before you're ready for them, and you probably will be soon."

Naruto nodded, her eyes never leaving the arena below though. She saw Hinata use a form of Kaiten to knock away a number of Shino's bugs, and he countered with bugs from below. They knew each others moves too well. Maybe this is another reason why it is a bad idea to have teammates fight each other.

Somehow though, the fight ended in as Hinata landed a heavy blow on Shino using Jyuuken, and Shino in turn was able get his bugs through Hinata's defense. At the same time. It was decided that the fight was a draw.

Sasuke still hadn't shown up. Naruto was turning to walk back down to the regular levels of the stadium and prepping for a fight with Gaara when suddenly the Kazekage spoke up.

"Most lords and business people came today with the intention of seeing Uchiha Sasuke fight Gaara. We should probably give him some more time, like, lets say 10 minutes, before he is forced to forfeit."

Naruto raised her eyebrows at this proposition; it seemed typical that they would allow Sasuke all these chances to show up. She was certain that had he been anyone else, then they would have automatically said that he had forfeited by now. If she were in charge, he would have been treated that way.

The Hokage seemed to consider what the other had said though, and after a few moments of consideration nodded in agreement.

'Great, now that damned Uchiha is going to think the world will stop and wait for him until he is good and ready,' Naruto barely managed to keep her face neutral.

"By the way, Hokage-sama, why haven't I heard of the beauty standing beside you before? She seems to be well versed in some difficult jutsus, and took down Temari without wasting much energy, so she should have been much more noticeable than the records show."

'Great, now the Kazekage is a pervert! Wait till Gaara gets a load of this.' Naruto focused once more on the Kazekage though, and felt a cold wrench in her gut when he winked at her. Was it just her imagination or did he seem to be wearing purple eye make-up? Either way, she wasn't chancing it. She left before she even heard the Hokage's answer, right as the announcer told everyone in the audience that they were going to have a 10 minute break before resuming the matches.

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Finding Hinata was easy; all she had to do was look in the medical bay, which she did to insure her friend was alright. Hinata seemed alright, just in bad need for some rest.

Finding Neji was a problem though. When she went back to the contestants' box, she found a hastily written sandwich board from Neji hanging on the wall declaring that he would be back for his match against Kabuto, and to not tell Naruto that he was gone. She had angrily ripped the sign down, and then went to stand beside Gaara. However, a problem arose in that her human shield was now almost gone. Kabuto was there in what seemed like an instant.

"Naruto-san, was that swamp summon one of the things that you learned during your training?" Naruto made sure to ignore the guy.

"Why don't you bother someone else?" Gaara's voice was in a monotone, the same dead voice that he'd had when she first met him. This time though, Kabuto seemed unwilling to back down.

"Gaara-san, I realize that Sasuke-kun's tardiness is probably wearing on your nerves, but I was talking to Naruto-san. She is able to speak you know."

Had this been a different conversation with a different person, Naruto would have appreciated the point that Kabuto was making, but she wasn't thrilled with it right now. Her only reply was, "Shoo fly don't bother me."

Kabuto stared at her for a few moments before deciding to try to get her to talk by changing the subject. He started talking about his adoptive family, bad topic, for both Naruto and Gaara. Annoyance was quick to settle upon both of them as he described his family, namely his parents.

Naruto had never known her parents, didn't even have a picture of them, so she had always thought of herself as an orphan. It was a lot less painful to think about than what the alternative would be.

Gaara on the other hand, did have his family, but they weren't necessarily a "family". From what Naruto could understand from what Gaara had told her, his father, the Kazekage, had repeatedly tried to have Gaara killed. He didn't regard Gaara as his child at all, and didn't do anything to prove he was his father.

Kabuto was describing some of his "mother's" cooking, and some of his favorite dishes when Naruto felt ready to loss it completely with him. Both Gaara and she had been glaring at the other, sending waves of killer intent, coughing, clearing throats. Gaara even tried to wrap Kabuto in his sand in an attempt to stop him, but had stopped when Naruto sent him a look that translated to "Don't overdo it." When Sasuke finally showed, Naruto was certain that she fell in love with him at that moment, mainly because Kabuto shut up.

As Gaara went down to begin his battle, Naruto ran up into the stands to find Kakashi and demand a reason why he'd been so long.

"Pssst, Naruto!" Naruto stopped where she was when she heard a voice. Said voice was loud enough to be heard by several people in the stands that she was passing. "Over here!" Now the voice was a lot louder.

Reaching into the hall behind her, Naruto grabbed the arm of a green eyed girl whose head was crowned with very long, light brown hair. Her name was Mariko Suka, aka the Wolf Demon Nin. Naruto knew her from various missions when she had left Konoha after a target. They had met and become fast friends, and she was the first person that Naruto had told about Kyuubi. What had been a shocker was that Mariko was also tangled in some demonic affairs, namely that she was the grandchild of an illegitimate child sired by Kouga the wolf demon. The only connection she had with Konoha however was that she had a boyfriend here.

"What are you doing here?" Naruto was authentically interested.

"Well, my little rosebud came over to my place with a student in tow. They stayed for the last month, then came here for a competition of some sort! I followed them!" Mariko stated this as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. Naruto's jaw dropped.

"Your boyfriend is… Kakashi?"

"Yep, though I do love all the pet names that I give him, and I think he loves them too! He turned so red when I called him "love muffin" in front of his student; I thought his mask would burn right off! Too bad really, finally would have gotten rid of the damn thing."

Naruto was speechless.


	13. The Rooftop

Saria: (is looking very paranoid)

Tori: Yo Saria!

Saria: AAAUUUUGHHH!

Tori: T.T What did I do?

Zas: Relax, it's just that her exams are making her a bit edgy.

SA: (sees Saria clinging to a tree branch, about 5 stories above the ground) That's a bit edgy? That's a lot of bits!

All (except SA): THE APOCALYSE IS DEFINITELY COMING! SA MADE A JOKE!

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Even though she was a hunter nin and had been one for over 3 years, one thing that Naruto had to admit to the world was that she was by no means quiet. However, compare her to Mariko and Naruto looked like a very soft spoken person. As they ran through the stands, Mariko chatted about everyone and everything she'd seen since she and Naruto had last seen each other, which hadn't been more than two weeks ago when Naruto had stopped at her place to get some rest and food.

"And then, while they were on that rock, I almost went flying over the side one day when that Sasuke guy hit the rock I was behind while he screamed, "Chidori!" I sure didn't see any birds though, all I saw was that damned electric blob in his hand, I would have fallen if my sweety hadn't been there to catch me. But that attack, he's going to take off his family jewels one day with that thing and the way he forms it…" Mariko kept going on and on, but Naruto was caught slightly off balance when she said "Chidori."

"What was this Chidori like?" Naruto asked her friend, right as she spotted the aisle Kakashi was in.

"It sure didn't look like a thousand birds," Mariko began, and then froze. "LOVE MUFFIN!" she howled as she launched herself at Kakashi in a flying glomp. Kakashi looked slightly abashed at this.

"AAHHH! MY ETERNAL RIVAL, SO YOU HAVE EXPERIENCED THE BEAUTIFUL WONDERS OF YOUTHFUL LOVE! AND WITH SUCH A FINE CHOICE OF A WOMAN!"

'OH GOD NO!' was the thought that Kakashi and Naruto shared at that moment, as Gai plunged head first into another of his speeches. Mariko on the other hand, looked like she was listening to Gai, and even got a slightly devilish grin on her face.

"SHOULD YOU NEED ANY TIPS, MY BELOVED RIVAL, FEEL FREE TO ASK! I WILL ALWAYS BE HAPPY TO HELP YOUR SHORTCOMINGS IN THE WORLD OF LOVE! WE CAN MAKE A LADY'S MAN OUT OF YOU YET, AND THIS BEAUTY THAT YOU SEEM TO ADORE WOULD PROBABLY LOVE TO HELP!"

"I'D LOVE TO HELP! LET'S START WITH THE MASK!" Mariko yelled as she mirrored Gai's pose, then rushed at Kakashi's mask.

"WE SHALL MAKE HIM A TRUE LADY"S MAN, JUST LIKE ME! HA HA HA HA!" Mariko froze in midair, and started retching as she pictured Kakashi wearing that green spandex with the bowl cut and orange leg warmers. She shoved the image out of her head and started envisioning Kakashi in a Speedo.

"I just remembered I need to go somewhere, right now! And when I get back, I want an explanation as to why you guys were so late!" Naruto called to Kakashi, then turned heel and ran away from the scene. A few jumps later and she was sitting on the roof that was right next to the Kage's box, and finally looked back at the fight between Gaara and Sasuke.

'Gaara's going to win,' Naruto thought as she stared at the fight. Sure, there were probably people who would disagree, or at least declare that it was up in the air, but Naruto was certain of who the victor would be. Down in the arena, Gaara was obviously just playing with Sasuke at best; he definitely hadn't pulled out the stops yet. Sasuke on the other hand was starting to get winded and slightly tired from having to avoid Gaara's sand.

Gaara then suddenly pulled all of his sand back, forming a hard-shell around him. Naruto was unsure of what this meant he was doing, but by looking down in the stands, she easily found Gaara's brother, Kankurou, and saw that he was almost hyperventilating. Looking back, she also saw that Sasuke was not being deterred. He ran at the now solid looking sphere of sand, barely avoiding spikes that appeared to skewer him, and tried to punch said sphere. He jumped back rather quickly in Naruto's eyes, and the sphere didn't look like it had been hurt at all. Sasuke made several more attempts to bypass the sand, and each failed, until finally he jumped up onto the stadium wall, and took the pose that Naruto had been dreading that he would take.

"I'm going to kill him…" she murmured as Sasuke brought an actual Chidori to life. "I'm going to so kill that Kakashi bastard! Chidori is his only original technique, so he had to be the one who taught Sasuke that!"

She watched, as bile rose up her throat and into her mouth, as Sasuke charged down the wall, gaining speed the whole way, and rammed the Chidori into Gaara's sand, the damage unavoidable. She listened to Gaara's cry from within the sand as well, before she jumped into action herself.

"Hokage-sama," she shouted as she jumped the short distance into the Kage box. "Hokage-sama, you have to make this stop now! Sasuke may have not been able to get past the sand any other way, but using an assassination technique in a situation like this, where there was no real danger, is inexcusable! Gaara just might start using deadly force himself now!"

Sarutobi was actually nodding; agreeing with Naruto's words as he watched the arena, as some sort of arm rushed out of the opening in the sand made by Sasuke and made a grab at him. "Kakashi shouldn't have taught something like that to someone so young. Maybe it is time to end this matc…"

"BOOM!" outside of the stadium, a series of bombs suddenly went off, and Naruto saw in the corner of her eye, that Gaara's sand cocoon suddenly slammed shut with no further movement following. However, by then she had noticed that the Kazekage had jumped up and grabbed the Hokage and had a kunai at his neck. He reached up and yanked off his veil revealing Orochimaru who was smirking in a rather disgusting manner. Four other ninjas appeared also and set up a shield around the surrounding area that was so strong, not even the ANBU that Naruto saw on the other side were able to break through.

"Naruto, get the shield down!" Sandaime's called as he broke out of Orochimaru's grip and ripped off his robes to reveal his armor. Turning, he prepared to engage his former student.

Naruto only nodded at the old man's words as she raced towards one of the corners, but stopped short when she saw that the shield also separated people on the inside from those that formed said shield. Within the shield, she saw the female Sound nin that she had been planning to attack make a rude gesture and grin in a rather mocking fashion.

"Damn…" Naruto muttered as she turned her attention back to the fight of Orochimaru and the Sandaime, right as the old man used the Katon: Karyuu Endan no Jutsu. Rushing to a position that would be perpendicular to the attack, she quickly formed the handseals for a Katon: Housenka no Jutsu which she fired at Orochimaru in conjunction with the Hokage as he poured more power into his technique.

The assault lasted an entire minute before both Hokage and genin cut their attacks. Naruto immediately rushed to the side of the Hokage, who in turn gave her a look that said, "What are you still doing here?"

"The shield won't come down unless those that power it either run out of energy, or let it fall. The only other way would be if we could strain the shield and drain the energy in the shield fast enough so that they couldn't replace it."

"Do you know anyone who could do that?" Sandaime asked, as always knowing that Naruto had analyzed the shield to the best of her abilities, and that she had an idea of how to go about this.

"We can either try to beat Orochimaru, or we can endure, or can get a little friend of mine that goes by the name of Mariko to get up here and use her abilities to strain the shield."

"Didn't she give up being a nin?"

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean that she quite practicing her techniques, especially the energy wasting ones." Naruto shot a grin at the Hokage, who in turn grinned back.

"Then why isn't she up here?"

"That's the problem, you see, Mariko is…"

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"AAAHHHHH!" Mariko screamed, as she latched onto Kakashi, both of them enjoying every second of it. Around them, Sand and Sound nins had just jumped out of the crowd and were attacking everyone that was still awake.

"KAKASHI, SAVE ME!"

"She finally called me by my name!" Kakashi murmured in wonder as he slaughtered several more nins.

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"…a bit of a coward!"

Naruto looked slightly sheepish as the Hokage's face fell. So much for that idea.

"But, something happens whenever she gets supremely pissed off."

"Dare I ask what?"

"No," Naruto answered. "But I can assure that it is a spectacular sight."

"Are you two quite down?" Both of the nins turned their attention to a now more immediate threat in the form of a snake sannin that had just stepped out of the smoke caused by their techniques from before.

"Naruto, try to tell the ANBU on the other side of the shield what to do, and how to get that Mariko person up here and attacking that shield. I'll take care of this criminal."

"No problem!" Naruto called back as once again she ran toward the shield.

"Ahh, so sensei wishes to fight me, to bad. I was hoping to be able to fight that girl again, but this gives me a chance to take you down and remove that suppression seal you placed on her without interference."

"You won't touch her, not now, not ever!" Sandaime answered angrily.

"Sensei, let me show you a technique that I developed all these years that I was away. While you play, I can remove that pesky seal." Orochimaru then launched into a series of seals before slamming his hands down on the ground. The Sandaime watched in mixed horror and fascination as a coffin rose from the tiles with the word "Shodaime" etched on it. A few seconds later another coffin, this one labeled "Nidaime" joined the first. A third began to rise coffin began to rise.

'No, not him,' Sarutobi thought, slamming his hands together in a seal.

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Naruto was thoroughly frustrated with the world. She had come to realize very fast that although she could hear the ANBU on the other side of the shield, they couldn't hear her, and she seriously doubted that she could get the shield makers to relay a message for her. AND JUST WHO'S BRIGHT IDEA WAS IT TO HAVE ANBU AND HUNTER NINS USE TWO DIFFERENT FORMS OF HAND SIGNS?

"A duck! You want us to get a duck!"

"No you fool, that is obviously a cat!"

'Only me,' she thought as she suppressed the urge to try to attack the ANBU, shield or no shield. 'Only I would wind up trying to tell a squad of ANBU, without talking, to find a girl named Mariko and to bring her up here, and for them to mistake that for a game of Charades!'

She knew that if she were ever able to talk to Kyuubi normally again, the damned fox would never let her live this one down, especially considering that she really did look like she was playing Charades. She had tried spelling Mariko with her fingers for them, they didn't get it. She tried describing Mariko with her hands; they seemed to like that too much. She was currently acting like a wolf, but was carrying a kunai in her hand. Thank god a more competent ANBU showed up at that point.

"A Wolf nin?" Naruto promptly jumped up and starting pointing, nodding fiercely. Then she started making the bring here signals, pointing down at the stadium also, hoping they would get the message. The competent ANBU did.

"We're looking for a Wolf nin in the stadiums. Find them and bring them here!" He shouted. The ANBU then jumped into the stadium, looking for this Wolf nin.

Turning, Naruto wondered briefly if she hadn't in fact been driven mad by the ANBU, because right before her was the Shodaime and Nidaime, and they were engaging the Hokage!

"WHAT THE HELL?" she screamed, as she rushed to help Sandaime, then a cold pair of hands wrapped around her neck, stopping her forward motion immediately.

Orochimaru's breath was warm on her neck as he leaned in so he could whisper into her ear. "Now, lets see what we can do about that seal that prevents mine from working."


	14. Dreams Die

Saria: (is jumping around from sheer joy) School is out! School is out!

Tori: (joins Saria) School is out!

Zas: Now you have the entire summer!

SA: (pulls out a whip) And don't you dare think that I'm going to let you get off of writing the story! You had a whole week to write this since school ended, and you're still celebrating after almost 7 days? Someone has got to crack the whip!

Saria: Awww! How long until school starts?

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Naruto struggled to break out of Orochimaru's grip, desperate to try to assist the Hokage as she saw him make a wall of earth as the Nidaime sent an enormous water jutsu at him. Behind her, Orochimaru's grip remained strong as he snorted slightly at the display.

"Let me go!" Naruto yelled as she twisted slightly in the snake's grip and kicked her foot out, slightly grazing his side. Orochimaru showed no reaction aside from a tightening of his grip.

Lowering his head, the snake man grabbed Naruto's collar with his mouth and pulled it down, revealing the suppressed curse seal.

'This damned seal is powered by her will… Maybe if I can change the direction of her will, even temporarily, it will disengage.' Orochimaru smirked wickedly, an idea forming in his mind.

"To bad Sandaime suppressed this seal, you could have easily been able to save him right now with its power. You wouldn't be in this situation right now."

"If you hadn't bitten me, then I wouldn't be here right now!" Naruto angrily shouted back, as she twisted around again, trying to break the snake's grip. It had occurred to her that this man was the Grass nin from before, mainly since he knew about the seal, and his voice matched the one that told Kabuto to get her back to her team.

"Now now, no need to get so excited. Just watching the battle that you're precious Sandaime is in, battling for his life, unassisted at his age, should give excitement enough. Soon he'll be dead, and my goals will be met!" Smirking once again, the snake man cackled, the very sound of it grinding on the girl's nerves.

'Have to stay calm and defeat this guy, or wait for Mariko to arrive. Either way, if I let myself slip, I might accidentally hurt someone that's on our side! But what to do?' Naruto's thoughts raced as she thought of her various techniques, quickly throwing out things like Academy level bunshins and henges. Summoning the swamp would only make things more difficult. She didn't want to summon a frog, but foxes might work and the hair technique would make him let go, and…

Naruto's thoughts came to a grinding halt as Orochimaru's hand wandered too far south.

"HENTAI NO BAKA!" she screamed as she promptly twisted in his grip at an almost inhuman angle and slugged the guy across the face, unknowingly forcing him to release her. But she was as angry as hell!

"No one and I mean NO ONE gropes ME and gets away with it! Much less a snake bastard!" Naruto screamed as she launched herself at Orochimaru, plan thrown to the wind as they so often were in real battles, or at least around Naruto.

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The fight with the invading ninjas was starting to boil down with the invaders losing badly. Kakashi and Gai, as well as Genma, the acting referee were too much for the Sand and Sound shinobi. Even if Kakashi was essentially carrying Mariko.

"KAKASHI! WOOT WOOT! YOU'RE SO AWESOME!" Mariko cheered from the ninjas back where she was literally watching his back and deflecting kunai as they came. All of them were surprised though when a squad of ANBU, one of them holding a Bingo Book turned to a certain page, chose that moment to land amongst them. The one with the Bingo Book ran straight up to Kakashi and started to study Mariko who was still perched on Kakashi's back.

"This could be her!" he shouted to the rest of his squad.

"Yeah, just like the ten other women that you thought the exact same thing about!" another shouted as he reached forward and took away the Bingo Book.

"Those were all honest mistakes, anyone could have made them!"

"Two of those women were Sand nin, one was a waitress at your favorite restaurant, one was my sister, one was your fiancé, and one was an old woman. The last four just had similar hairstyles."

"… And your point is?" asked the first.

"… You're hopeless." The ANBU then looked down at the book, and compared Mariko's features to the ones in the book. Looking up, he asked, "Are you Mariko Suka, previously known as the Wolf Demon Nin?"

Mariko nodded a bit numbly, already getting a feeling that she wouldn't like where this was going.

"There's a shield separating us from our Hokage, and a girl is in there with him. She was making hand signs to bring a wolf nin to her."

"NARUTO IS STUCK INSIDE A SHIELD!" Mariko automatically screamed, causing several people to wince.

"And Orochimaru is in there also. We think he is trying to kill them!" The first ANBU looked around at the people staring at him. "Well it's true! He did grab her neck as we left!"

"WHAT? HOLD ON NARUTO! I'M COMING!" Mariko immediately launched herself up towards the roof.

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Naruto and Orochimaru were fighting again, or rather Naruto was fighting and Orochimaru was merely dodging. Running at him, Naruto had begun the fight with a side kick which she followed up with a roundhouse kick, both were dodged.

Angrily, she jumped back and began the hand seals for Katon Karyuudan no Jutsu, but stopped one seal short as Orochimaru began his dodge, straight into the vector that she had anticipated. Without hesitation, she launched a series of shuriken and kunai that had razor sharp wires attached to them. Inwardly she cheered when Orochimaru got trapped by the wires, and with a hard yank on the wires, she watched as the snake was amputated and cut to ribbons, only for him to poof out of existence and a log to be the one cut instead.

"Kawarimi?" Naruto immediately tried to pinpoint Orochimaru's location, but couldn't find him. Jumping into the air, she inverted herself and spun to get a good look around and see if she could find him.

A loud "BAM!" sounded at that time; and a portion of the purple shield became a lot darker as more energy was poured into the portion. Naruto couldn't help but smile even as she turned her attention back to the fight. She had seen a slight outline that looked like a tornado, and she knew that it was going to get bigger and more powerful. It was that tornado that had made Mariko infamous, because although in regular one-on-one combat she was sort of weak, in a large scale attack she could be considered a truly devastating force. This attack was one that she had gotten from her ancestor Koga, and had been what earned her the title of Wolf Demon Nin.

"Isn't that ridiculous?" a voice sounded behind Naruto. "Does that person really think that they can break through that shield?" The person cackled again, and Naruto felt her nerves reaching their absolute end. "Your Hokage is starting to get desperate, and you're no match for me yet, Naruto-chan. Why don't you just submit?" The –chan suffix was greatly exaggerated, Naruto's nerves snapped.

"GET AWAY FROM ME YOU RETARDED, BLOOD SUCKING, BASTARD SNAKE!" Naruto screeched as she flipped herself over and snap kicked at Orochimaru's groin area.

Orochimaru on the other hand, who had been greatly enjoying himself, took in the movement with shock, barely raising a defense in time to save himself the pain. The girl's speed had greatly increased. 'Her will is bending!' he thought, as a back handed punch to the face sent him backwards.

Naruto was seeing red, and the target was Orochimaru. After he had just barely managed to stop her kick, she had followed up with a back handed punch, catching him on the cheek, and throwing him back slightly. Not even waiting for him to land, she launched herself after him, punching and kicking, slowly working her chakra to her limbs to reinforce the blows. She didn't notice when her chakra began to turn purple-black in color, only kept her barrage up.

The change in her chakra was noticed by Sandaime though, who turned to see the young girl who held so much promise, and to see the cursed seal on her neck move downwards, and then nine tail-like tattoos in black seemed to cover her body.

"Oh no…" he whispered, even as he jumped through the summoned wooded area, and then summoned Enma to his aid. "Don't lose control for just a little longer, Naruto. The shield is almost down."

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Kakashi and the ANBU had arrived in time to see Mariko launch her attack against the shield, and were now watching as she shaved the chakra that the shield makers used away, bit by bit. The shield on the other side was already a much lighter shade of purple; the weakest spot looked almost translucent in color. The ones that formed the shield were gasping and looked extremely weak and tired, one of them already forced to sit down. Mariko's attack just kept getting bigger though. They'd be through soon.

"I see why you like her, Kakashi-san," one of the ANBU said.

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Naruto was starting to realize that something was seriously wrong, she felt as though she had just received a power boost form Kyuubi, but something felt wrong about this power. Kyuubi's powers did feel funny, but they didn't make her feel pain in her movements, at worst they made her go numb.

Her speed had drastically improved, and Orochimaru looked like he was starting to hurt, but she wouldn't be able to keep this up for long. She was snapped out of her revere then when she heard a pained grunt, and it was coming from the Sandaime! Orochimaru could wait, Sandaime was much more important to her.

But, when she turned to go and assist Sandaime, it was to her great displeasure when a very large monkey scooped her up and jumped away.

"NO!" Naruto screamed, as she watched the Hokage make two kage bunshin and begin a set of hand seals. "DAMN MONKEY! LET ME GO! I HAVE TO HELP HIM!"

"You can't, not anymore," was the reply from the monkey. "You let your inner emotions run rampant and the suppressor seal that Sarutobi put on you was deactivated and the cursed seal activated in turn. Besides, this jutsu will end his life."

"What? Then let me go! I have to stop him before it is too late!"

"It is too late! Besides, I would never let you do that. Sarutobi is an honorable man, and he would never forgive himself, me, or you if you were to sacrifice yourself for him when he's already made a decision."

"I understand, but I want to be there, in case something goes wrong," Naruto whispered to Enma, the marks of the seal fading.

"What could go wrong?" Enma asked as he set the girl on her feet again.

"THAT!" Naruto yelled, as they both saw a glowing sword rise off the ground a jerkily turn toward the Sandaime.

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"Just a bit longer," one of the ANBU murmured as another one of the four shield makers fell. With the exception of where Mariko was attacking the shield, the rest of it was almost transparent now, and they could all see what was happening.

"Just hold on for another minute," Kakashi called to Mariko.

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Naruto didn't know if she could have been in a worse or more painful situation if she had tried. Right now, she was holding onto the blade of a glowing sword that was burning her hands from how cold it was, not to mention cutting them open, but also, right in front of her, dying right before her eyes, was the first person to care about her and what happened to her. It only made matters even more horrible to also acknowledge that she couldn't save him now, and would never get the opportunity to thank him for all he had done or her.

Tears were flowing freely down her face as she watched him struggle to pull Orochimaru's soul out, and rid the world of his ungainly presence. Tears continued to flow when she saw him turn his head slightly toward her, and smile that heartwarming smile of a grandfather which had warmed her heart since her early childhood. She knew that this would most likely be the last time she saw him smile, or do anything, and she fought to give him a smile in return, but all she could manage was to look at him with a brave look, all the while wishing she were braver.

She wished that she could have added her power to his though, for in the end, Sandaime, the Professor, the Hokage, the man believed to be the most powerful Kage of the five great nations, couldn't finish the task. Her tears had stopped when he fell, his smile still in place as a very familiar looking seal appeared on the great man's stomach, an exact twin to her own.

In her hands, the icy blade stopped yanking against her hold, before her Orochimaru was screaming in pain for the world to hear, but inside Naruto's head, one of her most precious people had just faded from the world forever. She would never see him again. She had already known that if she had married, she wanted him to act as her father and walk her down the aisle; now that would never happen. Her first child would have had him as a godfather; that also wouldn't happen. Nothing more would EVER happen.

"Orochimaru," she said in a soft voice, her hands tightening around the hilt of the sword that was still in her hands, and behind her she heard Enma disappear. "Today, you made several of my hopes and dreams die, they shall accompany this great man to heaven." At this remark, she gestured toward the still warm body of the Sandaime. "However, as long as I have any say in this, YOU WON'T LEAVE HERE ALIVE!" With that, Naruto charged at the now practically invalid snake sannin with his sword hefted, prepared to strike when a sharp pain rocketed through her nerves, slowly pulling her to unconsciousness. Before she lost herself though, she made a swipe with the blade, and from the scream that pierced the onrushing darkness, she must have hit something.

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The shield finally collapsed, and of the four that had originally held it, only two were conscious anymore. Both people rushed to the center of where the shield used to be, grabbed something that was lying there, and took off, barely evading the ANBU.

"Good job, Mariko, the shield is down and we have at least two prisoners," Kakashi said with an eye smile as he turned to his girlfriend. "Mariko?"

"Lok at all te pwetty colurs!" Mariko replied, looking extremely dizzy. "Ketty!" she cried, latching onto Kakashi

"I think I better take her to my house for some rest," Kakashi told the ANBU, as he hefted Mariko up and disappeared.

Down in the stadium, a sand shield released itself and Gaara immerged. Going to the roof, he saw the ANBU still gathered there, but also that Konoha was still standing.

"Is it over?" he asked one of the men, who nodded numbly.

"You won?" Gaara asked again, and again another nod.

"Good," Gaara said as he walked to where he saw Naruto. She was unconscious, but still clutching a sword in a death grip, and beside her was a blackened hand and a human leg.

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Saria: Sorry this took so long! I was playing Endless Online. Wouldn't you know it though, I leave the computer for a few minutes, come back and my little sis is on, and has just given away my Twin Blade, kimono, and swift armor!

SA: What does this teach us about such things?

Zas: That if you're the oldest and you work on something for months, that a younger sibling can get away with destroying it because they're younger?

Tori: NO!

Saria, SA, and Zas: (look at each other) That sure seems to be the lesson learned here!


	15. Sighted Again

Zas: (is holding a dish of chocolate chip cookies while wearing a frilly pink apron)

Tori: HA HA HA HA HA HA!

SA: BWA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!

Saria: (rofl) Great look!

Zas: You made me wear this, now why did you do this?

Saria: Those cookies are for the reviewers, we're getting so few, I thought I'd need to offer something!

Zas: …

Tori, SA, and Saria: (continue laughing)

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When Naruto woke up in the hospital, she saw that she had Gaara, Hinata, and Neji as visitors. Gaara however, was the only one awake. Her hands were bandaged, but she knew those would be gone soon.

"Did I get him?" she croaked at Gaara, finding her throat very dry, mainly because she already knew that Sandaime was dead, but hoping she had avenged him.

"You cut off one of Orochimaru's hands and a leg. Most think he could have bled to death soon after, but no one is sure." Gaara's reply killed a lot of her hope.

Orochimaru had Kabuto on his side, and he was never too far away at that. Unless Kabuto had a change of heart, most likely he had treated Orochimaru and saved him before they were even five minutes gone.

"Damn him," Naruto murmured, unsure if she meant either Orochimaru or Kabuto, but it didn't seem to make a difference right then. In her eyes for the first time since Uchiha Itachi had left Konoha, Naruto felt tears form, but they never fell, no matter how much she wished they would, for if they did, the hurt would fall with them.

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The funeral for the Sandaime hokage was attended by all denizens of Konoha, whether they were ninja or civilian. Naruto attended, but chose to stand in the back after helping Iruka-sensei comfort a weeping Konohamaru.

Like all the others, she when it was her turn to walk past the altar that stood for all those that died in the attack, she had placed a white flower on the growing stack in front of the picture of the Hokage before moving back to her spot. And like all the others, she had been standing there when the rain had started.

Rain… Naruto turned her face slightly up towards the sky when she realized it was raining. A brief memory came back to her from when she was 8 and one of her teachers, an Inuzuka who became a hunter nin and tracker, had told her a story about how it rained when the angels cried, and the type of rain was determined by their emotion. Tears of happiness were warm, bright drizzles, despair was cold and dark, and anger put lightning in the rain. If it was raining now, then the angels were surely crying for the deaths of Sandaime and the other shinobi who were killed because of Orochimaru's greed. He would pay.

Several things that she missed though as she kept her head turned toward the sky and vowed to make Orochimaru pay were the looks on the faces of the various heads of clans, the village elders, and the Fire Nation's daimyo, who had come for the funeral.

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Naruto entered the Hokage's office the next day to do as he had asked of her. Sure enough, there was a compartment behind the Hokage pictures filled with eight scrolls of various sizes. Of these eight, she found that exactly three were labeled to her, and there was the Enma scroll of course, which left four other scrolls.

Looking over the scrolls she was meant to deliver, she found that one was meant for the village elders, more specifically Sandaime's old teammates, one was for Kakashi, one for an ANBU captain that she knew of called Yamato, and one for… Uchiha Itachi? Checking the dates on each scroll, she found that the elders were supposed to get their scroll today, as was Captain Yamato. Kakashi's wasn't until next month, and Itachi's was scheduled for just over two years from now.

Turning sharply, she ran out of the room with the intention of fulfilling the last of Sandaime's wishes. Since the elders would b easy to find, she'd look for Asuma first, after dropping off the extra scrolls at her house. Captain Yamato didn't seem like he would be hard to locate either, all she'd have to do is say his name to another ANBU.

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Dropping off the extra scrolls at her apartment, Naruto quickly changed her clothes and appearance, mainly because something had felt weird while se had been on her way back to her home. So, she currently felt like a female Gai knock off since she had changed her hair color to black and was wearing a LOT of green, thankfully no jumpsuit though.

As she walked around Konoha afterwards, she felt a slight jolt as her contact with Kyuubi finally returned. The fox was weak though, still being affected by the cursed seal. Right now, their contact had come back, but no where near where it had been before. All she could make out from the fox was some grumbling about how humans should be forbidden to wear green jumpsuits. Naruto had a sneaking suspicion that he felt the same way about how she looked now.

She noticed Sasuke a few moments later, walking down the street with a slightly dark and curious look on his face. Picking up her feet slightly, she easily caught up to him.

"Hey Sasuke!" she said, and he jumped slightly before fixing her with a death glare when he recognized her. Of course, said glare had about as much effect on Naruto as a paper ball would.

"Where are you off to in such a mood?" She asked innocently as she matched his pace.

"Why are you following me?" he replied.

"I asked you a question first, Sasuke-_chan_!" Naruto's smile seemed to flourish under Sasuke's glare that time.

"I'm meeting Kakashi, why don't you go bother someone else? I'm not the only member of this team."

"YOUR team, Sasuke," Naruto interjected softly. "I was only a temporary replacement, and now that the exams are done, I go back to my regular duties." 'And hopefully as a Chuunin,' Naruto added in her mind.

"All the more reason for you not to bother me."

"Actually, I think that I'll go with you to see Kakashi, maybe he'll know where Asuma is." Naruto made sure to smile in a rather sickly sweet fashion, but didn't bother trying to get a rise out o Sasuke for the rest of the way to wherever it was that he was going, which wound up being a sweets place. And there, standing in front of the place was Kakashi, Kurenai, and Asuma!

'Score!' she thought as she approached the teachers. 'Not only do I get to deliver the scroll, but I might get some free sweets out of this as well!'

However, before she was even in front of the shop, she noticed that the jounin instructors seemed to have a lot of their attention focused on something in the shop despite the appearances that they were trying to keep that they weren't suspecting of anything.

"Asuma-san!" she called out when she was almost halfway down the block and began trotting toward them, quickly leaving Sasuke behind. "Hey, I have a scroll to deliver to you!" As she passed the entrance to the shop, she stole a quick glance inside and spotted two figures in black cloaks with straw hats. She recognized them immediately as the two that she had seen while coming back to Konoha. Pressing the "Enma" scroll into Asuma's waiting hand, she ducked her head and immediately raced up the street, being sure to keep tabs on the two figures so she knew when they left and where they headed.

'Curiosity killed the cat,' Naruto thought as she took a roundabout route so that she could hopefully catch another glance at them. 'Good thing that I'm no cat, though you could pass for one if you tried a little Kyuubi!' A reply came in the form of an angry yet warbled sounding reply.

'I'll bring my mask just in case though,' Naruto thought as she pulled out a scroll that she had sealed her Hunter outfit in.

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Not even an hour later, Naruto was angry and felt ready to rip her hair out. Her pursuit of the two had to be called off when Kakashi caught her in proximity to where the two were fighting with Asuma and Kurenai. She hadn't gotten a good look at either of them, but she had seen them fight, and this time the shorter figure did fight. She had been taking note of his movements when Kakashi had found her and made her go and contact the ANBU.

The good news about that order, she had found that Captain Yamato person and had delivered his scroll to him saving herself a little bit of trouble.

The bad news was that the shorter of the two had somehow incapacitated Kakashi while she was gone by using some form of genjutsu. This is what had her peeved, especially since no one would give her any details as to what had happened so she couldn't begin to guess how the attack was made. The only reason that she knew that the attack was genjutsu was because Kakashi lacked any marks on his body to show that something had happened in a physical sense.

Another reason for her mood was that she had run into Jiraiya (Ero-sennin in her mind), and he had wanted her to go with him to find someone, a woman none the less. Naruto felt as though she were being dragged down by everything by that point. All she really wanted to do was hopefully grab a Chuunin vest to symbolize a promotion, if she got one, put on her full Hunter outfit, get a mission and go hunting.

At that moment though she was going to deliver the last scroll of the day to the elders, and she was carrying her backpack with her with her supplies in it. She was supposed to meet ero-sennin at the gate in about half an hour, so she had plenty of time.

Upon arriving at the Hokage tower, Naruto went up several flights of stairs to the elders offices and was about to enter the office of Elder Homura when she heard several arguing voices coming from Elder Koharu's office. Quietly she tossed the scroll onto the desk in the office before slipping to the other office's door and gently pushed it open a crack.

"The strength of our village has been greatly decreased, and as much as I dislike this idea, I believe that it is the only way that we shall recover fast enough that no other villages will attempt to bring us down." The elderly female voice that Naruto recognized as belonging to Elder Koharu rang out.

"Still, it seems like such a cheap thing to do, to appoint a Hokage that you plan to only use as a figure head for a little while! I don't believe anyone will stand for it!" This voice Naruto didn't recognize.

"That is something that we can deal with," Homura called above the crowd. "We need a Godaime Hokage fast, and Tsunade seems an excellent pick until a younger person can be chosen. It is either her or Danzou or maybe even Captain Yamato. Personally, I would prefer Tsunade out of these three."

'Tsunade, that's who ero-sennin wants me to help him locate… I don't like that Danzou guy at all, he just rings wrong in every manner, but Captain Yamato seemed ok for the few moments that I was in his company though…'

"So, a Hokage who'll be nothing more than a figure head for a few years time so you can have a new one trained for the position. Who, may I ask, do you have in mind?" This voice Naruto recognized as that of Hyuuga Hiashi, the head of the Hyuuga clan.

"We shall not say for right now, for if word of their identity gets to Danzou if he is made Hokage, then he shall surely kill that person to gain the full powers of the office. Their training though, shall begin soon."

Naruto felt her heart die as she felt another dream come crashing down. 'They've already chosen a Rokudaime Hokage? Before a Godaime is chosen?' Naruto shook her head slightly, swallowing the taste of bile rising in her throat. She didn't know why she was letting this bother her; in fact she should have expected it. Straightening up quietly, she left the area of the building, found a vacant restroom and changed into her Hunter outfit and slid the mask down over her face. This outfit and mask symbolized her role in life, and she would wear it proudly.

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Jiraiya was shocked when Naruto showed up in a Hunter outfit and mask. How could she tell? Well, ero-sennin's jaw drop seemed like a good enough hint for her.

"Comon," she stated, slightly irritated by the way he seemed to be flabbergasted. "Lets get the move on so we can find this Tsunade person. Oh, and before I forget, call me Shale on this trip."

"Any reason why?" Ero-sennin asked several minutes later, after he had picked his jaw up and off the ground.

"It's an alias that Sandaime made for me. Plus I shouldn't go walking around dressed like this while using my real name.

"Good point."


	16. Blessings

This is going to seem sudden, but I would like to dedicate this fic to several people who have helped me in my life.

In loving memory of my grandpa, Francis Mishkel, Died on Thursday, June 1, 2006. Several lessons that he taught me were to play hooky if you feel to good and the day is to pretty to go to school, to be ready to fight for what you want or need, and to give your heart completely and love one person only.

The second is Alex Huie who helped me in my darkest times, who, despite long distances I still love as a brother.

Next are several people here: Moomoomoothegirl who has been a really reliable reader and has put in some great input; Stars of Yaoi for her great stories; and of course, all the reviewers who have been so gracious in their reviews.

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Along the way to the next town Naruto decided to practice her stealth skills, just to make sure that she wasn't getting rusty. Of course, seeing as the only possible target was ero-sennin, she deemed it necessary to be very careful in this endeavor. Apparently though, ero-sennin's weak spot seemed to be defense against non-violent stealth.

So it was with a grin hidden behind her mask that they arrived in a lodging town called Otafuku that Naruto officially started counting what she had stolen off of Jiraiya's person. She counted out almost 10,000 ryou, a sake bottle, a note book, several different candies, and some unused adult "protection" products. She didn't think she would keep any of the stuff save the money and if ero-sennin complained she could offer him the opportunity to earn it back in return for some training and techniques, preferably no more frogs. Speaking of which, Gamakichi would probably love the candy.

Looking around, she saw that they town just seemed like an average lodging town, except she had never stopped to stay in this one since it was so close to Konoha. There were a few places to eat, and games, and various other things which looked like they would be fun to try, and since she wasn't on an official hunt, she didn't see any reason as to why she couldn't enjoy herself a little.

Jiraiya chose an Inn to stay at that looked like it was actually pretty nice, but Naruto also didn't miss the brothel that was right across the street.

'Typical,' she thought as he checked in, 'Men always seem to think with the head that is always roughly three feet below the one on their shoulders.' "Hey, why don't we just pitch a tent and camp somewhere?" Naruto wasn't really serious; she just wanted to hear Jiraiya's explanation.

"Because I'm the teacher on this trip and an apprentice is supposed to do as their master wishes."

"Well, perhaps we should have different rooms Oh Great Master Ero-sennin! I'll even pay for my own room!" 'With your money,' she added silently.

At that point, Jiraiya seemed to have a few reservations about letting her have her own room. There were so many dangers for shinobi wherever they went, and not just in villages. However, Naruto was a girl and it was considered kosher for her to sleep in a different room from him.

"Think of it, your own room, no one there to disturb you from doing whatever you want… with whoever you want." Naruto whispered the last part into Jiraiya's ear.

Jiraiya's face instantly turned red and he jumped up in excitement. "SOLD!" he declared to the girl.

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Her room was down the hall from Jiraiya's, at her request. Having two rooms that were right next to one another would be too obvious, but despite the more time that it would take for assistance to arrive in case something happened, she was sure that Jiraiya would have no trouble and she could hold her own for a while at least. Plus, she had a feeling that Jiraiya, despite all his words, was not above masturbation.

Throwing her pack onto the single bed in the room, she quickly dug out some different clothes so that she could go exploring. Jiraiya had actually been hit on in the lobby, and despite all of Naruto's efforts to clue him in on the genjutsu that was obviously at work, he had gone after her. Naruto had immediately requested that the clerk tell no one about where her room was, and sweetened the deal with a 5000 ryou tip.

The clothes that she decided on were a dark blue pair of pants and a white T-shirt. Looking into the mirror, she quickly changed her hair back to white after changing, just to hopefully throw off anyone who may have followed them. She also caught her hair up in a high pony tail which she braided.

Opening the door, she felt a slight tug from Kyuubi, one that usually was his way of saying, "I sense something." Just to keep up appearances, she continued down the hall toward the stairs, passing the two now familiar figures in black as she did. She was briefly aware of one of them giving her a rather strange stare though.

Both figures however, stopped in front of a door before she left the hallway, produced a key and went inside. Noting which door it was, Naruto decided that she could do a little snooping later on.

Down on the streets however, Naruto soon found herself fully enjoying herself and almost forgetting the two from earlier as she walked around. There was a candy vendor who had some of the strangest looking candy that she had ever seen, though she did try some and found it was enjoyable. There was also a posing guy that looked like he was holding a flame on his finger. Various stalls sold various wares and Naruto had to laugh a bit when she saw people at the gambling games, and some literally losing the shirt off their backs.

For some reason that she didn't know why, she felt drawn to a certain card game that was being played. Looking over one person's shoulder, she found that the game was called Blackjack. How it was played seemed to be played was that each number card was worth its value, except the Ace. The face cards seemed to be worth ten. The point seemed to be to gather a series of cards that would add up to twenty-one.

"Doesn't seem to be much else to do,' Naruto thought as she sat down for the game herself and threw in the amount to play. The dealer eyed her slightly, then grinned in a way that Naruto seriously didn't like. 'For that, I'm going to play dirty at every opportunity I get.'

However, her skills at slight of hand didn't need to be tested, each hand her luck held and her stash of money quickly grew by 50,000 ryou. By then, the dealer seemed to be panicking slightly, and began to let his eyes wander, looking for an easy target that could off balance his losses to the strange girl before him.

"You sir! Yes you! We have room for one more player! Come and try your luck!" He was eyeing someone in the crowd, and turning her head slightly, Naruto saw that it was the shorter of the two guys in the black cloaks. It surprised her slightly when he actually did join the game.

The dealer seemed slightly gleeful, especially when the new comer threw in a rather hefty opening bet for him to be added to the game. Around them, a small crowd had gathered slightly, most content just to watch the guy get his tail kicked. Some were actually murmuring over whether the new comer would be able to win, others murmured wondering if the "white-haired girl's" luck would hold.

Since the game was against the dealer and not the other players, Naruto felt no competition with the guy. She was curious however as to whether or not he'd be any good. Maybe she could also get some hints about his techniques if he did try some slight of hand.

The dealer shuffled the deck and dealt the cards. Naruto's first card was a two of hearts; her next was a four of spades. Peeping over at the newcomers cards she noticed that his cards weren't much better, a six of clubs and a three of spades. The dealer had a ten of diamonds and a five of clubs.

'Now it is time for a little genjutsu and some slight of hand,' she thought as she easily wove the same one she had used on Jiraiya so that she could 'cook' the deck into a winning hand for herself. As she did this though, she had the strangest feeling that someone was staring at her once again. Peering over at the other player, she noticed that he was indeed watching, and SEEING what she was doing. Glancing at his cards again, she 'cooked' the deck to also give him a winning hand, making sure he saw the cards. She also set up an instant bust if the dealer tried to hit his own cards.

"Would you like to hit?" The dealer was smirking, certain that the girl finally wouldn't win.

"Yes," Naruto answered. "Hit." A four of hearts was dropped onto her cards.

"Hit," Naruto said again. This time the Ace of clubs was dropped on, twenty-one even.

"Hit," said the guy who had watched her. A three of spades was dropped on his stack.

"Hit." This time the card was a nine of diamonds. Total value of his cards: twenty-one.

The dealer grudgingly hit himself, and the seven of spades looked up at him. Total value, twenty-two, a bust.

"That's it for today folks," the guy called out, after dishing over the winnings of Naruto and the strange guy.

"You saw," Naruto whispered to the guy even as he simply picked up his winnings and began to walk away.

"Yes, I did." The reply seemed completely emotionless, but flowed evenly on the guy's smooth voice.

"Why didn't you rat?" Naruto asked sharply as she also pocketed her winnings and turned from the table.

"There was no point to do that."

"Hn…" Naruto replied, for once feeling completely confused and not in control. This guy was having a strange effect on her. "You didn't rat because I was able to cook the deck for you as well, right?" Her question was sharp and demanded an answer.

The guy turned sharply at that, and below the rim of his hat Naruto could just make out a pair of red eyes. These eyes seemed to be sizing her up, daring her to back down, an action that she refused to do. So she stared right back, showing no signs of unease at all, something she had learned from hunting for so long.

In those eyes, Naruto saw a form of pain, similar yet different from the pain she herself had experienced growing up. Yet there was also power, a power that could burn that warned her of the danger that this guy was to her. She barely saw the flash that went through his eyes too, for it was so fast, a flash that bore a grudging form of respect.

A sudden feeling formed in her chest, a form of tightness that didn't fade as she stared at him for a second more before brushing past him and heading for the inn, deciding to forego dinner. That could wait; something wasn't ringing right about what had just happened.

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Tucked safely in her room with the door locked, Naruto sat on the floor and entered a meditation position. After several deep breaths, she relaxed her body and pushed with her mind, pulling herself to where the demon was sealed. It was slightly easier than it had been when she had done it at the tower, but she still felt a good bit of resistance.

When she finally arrived in the chamber that the Kyuubi was in, she could see from behind the gate that he still wasn't doing very well. Normally, whenever Naruto came in, Kyuubi would be up and trying to look menacing, the only times that she had seen him looking weak or tired was after the cursed seal was placed on her and now of course.

"Kit," the Kyuubi murmured, seeing that she was present, and looked very worried. Chuckling darkly, he continued. "You shouldn't be worried about me; I'm the Great Lord Kyuubi after all!"

"Well, the Great Lord Kyuubi looks like he was knocked onto his back, drug through dirt during a hail storm, and then wrung out," retorted the girl.

Kyuubi chucked again. "Brutally honest as usual kit, never lose that quality. Many demons came to disrespect humans for the fact that they lie so much about so many things." He promptly plopped himself down into a lying position on his belly. "It's true though, I'm not in my best form. In fact, deeming that you're the only human that I care anything about, I believe it is time to discuss several matters."

"Matters?" Naruto had a bad feeling about this.

"First thing, you are now thirteen years old, and in three years you'll be at the human age of marriage within a ninja village."

"Not this again!"

"You should start looking for a proper mate, someone strong who can provide for you and your offspring. Normally I would try to get you to choose a demon so that your life, and mine, will be extended to a good many more years. However, taking into account recent events, I don't think you would be able to do that."

"Huh?" was Naruto's intelligent reply.

"You have my blessings! And might I say excellent chose!"

"NANI?"


	17. Shockers

Saria: (is holding a bowl of ramen) Who gets colds in the SUMMER?

SA: You apparently.

Tori: Hey at least you're actually awake.

Zas: Zzzzz…

SA: (puts a clothes pin over Zas's nose) He's annoying enough while awake.

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The rest of Kyuubi's discussion had been a lot easier for Naruto to zone out on after the initial shock of him talking about mates; still it hadn't been easy to not respond when he started talking about children and how her chose in mate could affect their abilities. Other matters though, such as new techniques which he intended for her to pick up on, had been articles of genuine interest for Naruto. Still, despite all the talk, even after leaving topics that she found uncomfortable, Naruto thought a lot about the upcoming raid she would be doing.

She waited until it was dark before she snuck out of her room, her intention being to check out the room of the two black figures, one of which Kyuubi kept laughing about.

Realizing that those two were likely to be highly trained shinobi, she decided an approach from the hallway was NOT advisable. The tree climbing exercise wasn't likely to be any better, but Naruto was determined that the window was the best approach at trying to search the room. That was how it came to be that she got a really good upper body work out that night as she gripped the side of the building with her bare hands and worked her way down the external wall to the room she believed they occupied.

Pressing her ear to the area of wood work that was right next to where the window began, Naruto began to focus on sensing any life forms in the room. She sensed only one, the one that carried the big bandaged sword on his back, and he was just leaving the room. Stretching her senses, she followed his progress until he was out the door, down the hall, and going down the stairway.

'Tricky part now is getting in and shutting the window before he comes out of the front door!' Naruto thought as she used one of her hands to shove the window open then her legs onto the sill to pull her in. The reason it was so tricky was because she still refused to use any chakra to help in the tasks.

She barely managed to accomplish this feat, but was pleased when she did manage.

A quick cursory glance around the room uncovered nothing, no packs, hats, or anything. Under the beds and in the closet was also clear. Keeping her senses alert, she moved quickly into the bathroom and checked the sink area, still nothing. Behind and in the toilet were clear. Moving back into the room, she noticed the ceiling fixture and gingerly jumped up to peek. There was something there!

Using only the tiniest bit of chakra that she could, Naruto latched unto the ceiling for a second, grabbed what she had seen, and flipped back down to the floor.

The item that she now held was a photo album of some kind, a very small and thin one true, but an album none the less. A quick scan for any traps within the book showed nothing, and Naruto gently opened the book.

There were very few pictures in the book, only about eleven. Naruto scanned the first page and found three pictures of two rather young boys, one about five years old and the other a newborn. A quick flip of the page, and Naruto had to hold back a gasp. On the first picture of that page was her, wearing a kimono that had been a mystery gift that appeared on her birthday when she was four years old. That was the one year that she ever attended the Kyuubi festival on her birthday.

Her hair was worn loose and down, already going down to almost her mid-back. The kimono itself was a vibrant red in color with whitish pink cherry blossoms for a pattern. The obi that had gone with the kimono had been deep blue. Whoever took this picture had done so when she wasn't looking and had caught her in a strange pose where she was mostly facing them person, but not looking at them. She had always assumed that the Sandaime had gotten that kimono for her, but seeing this photo made her doubt it. The other two pictures on the page had only the younger boy from the previous one in them.

Turning the page, Naruto found herself once again staring at herself the day that she had entered the academy. The photo was once again taken when someone knew she wasn't looking. The other two photos on this page showed the young boy, who Naruto now recognized as a young Sasuke, was the star in one of them, but she was once again the star in the last photo. Both pictures had been taken during shuriken practice.

Swallowing slightly, Naruto turned to the last page of the book where there were only two pictures. The first showed Sasuke running away from a fighting Ino and Sakura. Naruto had to laugh at that one, only to choke at the last photo. It was of her. And Itachi. The photo of them that was taken when he had accepted the position as her sensei where she stood in front of him and he leaned down slightly to put his hands on her shoulders.

Slamming the book shut, Naruto immediately jumped up and shoved it back into position before rushing into the room's bathroom, afraid she would throw up at any second. Itachi had stayed at this hotel; she didn't know how long ago, but there was no doubt that he had.

'Why did he take a photo album with him?' she thought as she hugged herself slightly, certain that if she tried to get back to her room the way she had come that she'd fall and give herself away, and unwilling to try the door. 'More importantly, why does he have those pictures of me? Sasuke I can understand, but me?'

Several minutes later the world finally seemed to stabilize enough for her to leave, so Naruto began to move toward the main room, more importantly the window, when her alarm senses suddenly fired up and she felt one of the two figures coming down the hall.

Since it was dark outside, and it reflected in the room, there was almost no chance that this was a simple stop-and-drop-something-off-because-my-arms-are-killing-me sort of break, this was probably a stop-for-the-night-and-get-some-sleep sort of break. Naruto couldn't help but curse under her breath.

Running back into the bathroom, she paused only to shut the bathroom door and "remove" the single light bulb before jumping into the curtained off area of the shower right as the hotel room door opened.

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Mariko was fully enjoying her stay with Kakashi, not only did he make a great nurse, but he only had one bed! Each time Mariko thought of that, she couldn't help the perverted giggle that escaped her. It also didn't help when Kakashi produced equally perverted giggles during the night.

Right now wasn't the time for that though. Earlier that day Kakashi had faced off against a missing nin called Uchiha Itachi, and he had gotten badly hurt mentally. Mariko was furious. Of course there was nothing she could do now except try to help Kakashi snap out of it. That was why she had "selflessly" gotten into bed with him and was petting his hair and cooing slightly to him, to try to make him feel better.

Earlier when she had mentioned trying to bathe Kakashi in warm water, it had been Asuma who took over, mainly because everyone except Gai had believed that Kakashi would find it equally traumatizing to wake up and find out that Gai had given him a bathe as he had found Itachi's technique. Once again, Mariko was pissed since she believed that SHE should be the one to bathe Kakashi.

"You always seem so eager to prove that you're a tough guy Kakashi, while also proving that you care for people." She smiled slightly at the barely responding man. "You should realize that people care for you, and you don't have to seem completely fearless for others. I certainly wouldn't think any less of you." Smiling, she again snuggled against the man, pushing her nose into his silver-grey hair. 'I probably need a shower very badly,' she thought as she dozed slightly.

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Sasuke moved into his shower after a tough day of training. He originally planned to try to see if Kakashi would train him, but when he arrived at Kakashi's place, there an argument over whether Kakashi's crazy girlfriend or Gai should give Kakashi a bath. Sasuke had left without any further ado.

Surprisingly enough today had been somewhat relaxing despite that strange argument and Naruto's annoyance of him. He had managed to avoid Sakura and Ino completely!

Still, he was curious, what did Naruto do? It was obvious she was well trained, but in what? And more importantly, as what?

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Neji was beet red and furious. The reason? Hanabi, the main house brat, had found photos of him in a dress when he was eight, courtesy of a genjutsu that Naruto had done. She was currently pasting them up all over Konoha.

'I HATE THE MAIN HOUSE!' He mentally roared as he ran after the brat, ripping done the photos as he went. 'Except Hinata,' he added on as he saw her attempt to grab Hanabi as she ran past Hinata, then seeing what her sister was doing, joined the chase, grabbing all the photos that Neji missed in his distress.

"Wait till Naruto hears about this," Hinata half-giggled as she grabbed another picture.

"Naruto probably GAVE her the IDEA," Neji yelled back. "This is probably punishment for the exam finals."

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"I'll never paint the Hokage tower weird colors again! I'll never paint the Hyuuga mansion again! I'll never dress a guy in drag again! I'll be a good little hunter nin! Just keep them out of the bathroom!" Naruto felt ridiculous praying while in a shower stall, but she didn't know what else to do. Luckily, the figure in the room hadn't yet entered the bathroom. Naruto could tell though that this was the guy from before who she had encountered at the blackjack table.

The turning of a knob was all that answered Naruto's prayers. 'That deal is off,' was Naruto's only thought on the matter.

The person in the bathroom though didn't pay her any mind, and she thanked God and every teacher she had ever had for the lessons in cloaking that she had received thus far. She had snuck up on Neji and Hinata so many times that it was just a matter of time before she became really good in stealth. Of course, person who was on the other side of the curtain may not have noticed her presence because they were busy relieving themselves with the toilet. Naruto hoped it was her cloaking abilities and stealth.

A second later the toilet was flushed and she heard a series of snaps and the shuffling of cloth.

'Just straightening his cloths, he'll leave in a moment,' she tried to reassure herself. Said reassurance crashed when she heard fabric fall and hit the ground.

Crouching down, Naruto huddled to the back off the stall, trying to remain as inconspicuous as possible. 'When he gets in, he'll get in on the showerhead side which is almost always opposite the toilet. When he gets in, I'll get out on the back and use the toilet to hide myself at first, then I'll either leave through the door if it's open, or hide under the sink since that area is empty.' Jumping up, she balanced herself on the side of the tub, ready to spring out when the guy got in.

The transition went smoothly thankfully. Naruto was shaking from the other side of the toilet though until she heard a very smooth and rich voice began to sing in soft tones from within the shower, at which point it was hard for her to contain her giggles. She was scared of a guy who sang in the shower? She would never live this one down. Thankfully though, the door was open.

Gingerly getting up, she began to once again head for the door when her alarm senses hit her again.

'Oh hell, now the other one is coming back!' Naruto thought as she reached under the sink only for her hand to encounter a towel. 'Maybe…'

Rushing out into the main room, Naruto quickly opened and then shut the door, loudly, right before the guy's partner turned into the hall.

"Hello?" she called out, fighting to keep her voice from quavering too much, just trying to make herself sound slightly nervous. "Hello?" she called again.

"What do you want?" a gravelly voice behind her asked as the door was shoved open, and Naruto forced herself to jump in reflex.

"S-sorry to intrude, but the desk clerk asked me to bring these up," she said, holding up the towels a little. "Apparently one of the maids forgot to bring them earlier."

"So he sent a random person up with the towels rather then to bring them himself?" was the rather rude reply.

"Kisame, where are the towels?" Both Naruto and the newly entered guy turned to see…

A very handsome, very wet, long-haired man who was also very… naked.

"THUD!" Naruto didn't know where the noise came from, but it was the last thing she heard before the world went white.

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'Where am I?' Naruto thought, her head swimming once again. Looking around, the whiteness that had surrounded her being seemed to clear and she found, Kyuubi's cage. 'So I'm in my head?' she asked no one in particular.

"I never thought that you would be the type to be knocked out by a handsome guy with a beautiful body…" Kyuubi murmured from behind his bars.

"I was not knocked out by a hot body, I was taken by surprise!"

"So you admit that he was desirable!"

"No, you said he was desirable, I admitted that his coming into the room butt-naked surprised me."

"Lets argue about this later kit, preferably after you can get back to your own room."

Naruto's eyes widened in horror as realization struck. "You mean… that I… really… I'm…"

Kyuubi rolled his eyes. "As eloquent as ever kit. Yes, you did knock yourself out and that loud thud that you heard before coming here was you hitting the floor."

"I got to wake up now!"

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"She's unarmed, and we did need towels. And she seems to be too innocent to be a shinobi Kisame."

"But she saw BOTH of us, we can't let her live!"

"If we killed her, we would leave a trail for anyone who may be pursuing us. It was dangerous enough to stay in the same hotel as that Jiraiya from the Legendary Three. And if that wasn't enough, a hunter nin was walking around with him. We leave a body, and I can almost guarantee trouble."

Naruto stirred slightly, aware that she was still on the floor, and then slowly sat up. Not even daring to meet the eyes of either man as she feigned embarrassment and meekness, she mumbled several apologies as she pushed herself up and moved for the door. Luckily, it seemed that the not Kisame guy had won the argument because she was allowed to leave.


	18. Morning After

Tori: La la la la la la!

SA: THAT TEARS IT! SHE HAS GOT TO BE SILENCED!

Zas: No more mommy! Please no more!

Saria: (grabs Tori) Do the words cruel and unusual punishment mean anything to you?

Tori: Nope! THUD!

SA: (is hefting a mallet) And that takes care of that!

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Naruto didn't leave her room for the rest of the night, very aware of the fact that she was alive by luck alone. She had considered going into Jiraiya's room for a while, but decided against it since she didn't know what he did behind closed doors. She really didn't want a second lesson on what naked men looked like, especially since this could have been part two: OLD naked men.

When the sun finally rose the next morning though, Naruto was VERY hungry. The reason; when she had locked herself in her room for the night and didn't leave, she forgot completely about dinner and any night time snacks that she may need.

She tiptoed out of her room that morning at almost 6am, intent to find some open store or something to buy some food in, completely forgetting that this town wasn't a ninja village and that no stores would be open for a little while.

She had just stepped out of the Inn door when she remembered this fact, but was unwilling to simply wait an hour or two for the shops to open. Checking the weight of her kunai pouch, she headed immediately for the surrounding woods.

Naruto breathed deeply as she entered the woods, then took off at a fast pace, quickly finding some berry bushes. Picking a few of the berries, she munched on them as she set up several traps around the bushes and then sat up on a tree branch to wait. She was certain that something would be along in a little while since it was still early, but if there was nothing worth catching in an hour then she'd break down the traps and head back to the town.

Slowly, an hour ticked by. Naruto saw a few squirrels and a bird, but nothing else.

'God!' she thought angrily as she tore down the traps, 'you'd think at least one rabbit would be hopping around at this time of the day!' Grabbing a few more of the berries from the bush, she ate those as se walked back to the town to vent some of her frustration on the pervert.

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Mariko laughed as she shoved the Uchiha out of Kakashi's apartment after scolding him for almost ruining Kakashi's rest. But that wasn't the only problem.

The brat had shown up and started demanding to know everything he could about Naruto. Apparently he had already gone to the archives, but had found that all information on her except her birthday and the fact she was a ninja was classified. He had come and tried to pry.

Mariko had been very happy to give the brat a spanking that he should have had long ago. She had also stuck an "I love chick flicks, ask me to see one with you," sign to his back, and right beneath it was an "I love Sakura" sign.

A sudden wave of dizziness hit her now though, so she crawled back into the bed with Kakashi.

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Uchiha Sasuke was not having a good day. His attempts to get information on Uzumaki Naruto were proving to be fruitless so far. Her file didn't even include a photo much less a hint on what she did or what she could do. No parents were listed, no bloodlines, and aside from the basic requirements from the academy, her records contained no information on her training.

Now to make matters even worse, Sakura had approached him, squealing like the annoyance she was and had asked him to see the latest chick flick with her, something called Love in the Night. God he hated fangirls.

Briefly his thoughts turned back to Naruto though, even during Sakura's infamous "cling attack."

'She's a lot more than she originally let on. The next time I see her, I'll have to challenge her to a fight and see if I can learn anything. And what did that one guy in the forest do to her? I heard him say that when she seeks power to seek out Orochimaru… maybe I can get the same thing.'

By then, Sakura noticed the far-off look in Sasuke's eye, and that he wasn't paying her any attention at all.

'What's he thinking about? Please let it be about me!'

"Sakura."

Sakura's heart jumped in excitement.

"Do you know where Naruto is, or where she lives?"

Sakura's heart fell.

"Why are you interested in HER, Sasuke-kun? She has absolutely no interest in you." Sakura hoped that that comment got Sasuke's attention back on her.

"I want to spar her," Sasuke replied. "And she is much less annoying in that aspect than you are."

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Breaking into Jiraiya's room proved to be very easy, even if Naruto later wished that she hadn't done it. Apparently Jiraiya had found the only hooker in town that could be bribed to service him.

Still, Naruto enjoyed the good ass-kicking she was able to lay on him.

She was now walking the streets of the village alone again though, and looking for food. Ramen wasn't on the hopeful menu though; she hadn't found any places that served it.

What did catch her attention though was a small food place that advertised teriyaki, sukiyaki, and dango. Easily slipping into a stool at the bar, she ordered a miso soup, a bowl of rice, one order of beef teriyaki, and one order of dango.

The miso soup was really good, though it was a bit salty, and she noted that the rice that was served was sushi rice, the really good stuff. She had made sure to smile sweetly at the chef when these were placed before her, and she noticed that the man had slipped some extra beef and sauce into her main dish, and her dango was a little larger than normal. Once again she smiled sweetly at the guy and thanked him, causing him to blush deeply.

Jiraiya arrived just as she was finishing the beef and was about to start on the dango. Naturally, considering that she had just ruined his morning, he had made a grab for the dish, only to have a foot planted in his face right as he grabbed it. The result: Naruto had a stick of dango, Jiraiya had one of the sticks, and the last one smashed into a passing man's jacket. Naruto did what came naturally when it looked like there might be trouble; she played innocent.

"You! You just ruined my friend's jacket! That jacket cost 10,000 ryou! How are you going to pay for it?" Naruto had to look.

"That ugly thing cost 10,000 ryou? You've been jipped!" She exclaimed upon spying said coat. True she wasn't really into fashion, but she knew when someone paid too much for something, this was one of those times.

"Watch your mouth girl! My friend here used to be a famous chuunin from the Stone village, the Yami Nin!"

"Really?" Naruto struggled to look authentically interested. "Then were you the Cry-baby nin?" Beside her, Jiraiya and several other people in the stand roared with laughter.

"Why you little!" Both men attacked, way to slow against Naruto.

From her sitting position, Naruto launched herself up into a back flip, her foot hooking onto the stool she had been on and sending it into one the men. Landing easily on the ground, Naruto summoned chakra to her hands and launched it in an explosive wave at the other, sending both him and his partner flying out of the place.

"Come on, ero-sennin," Naruto said to Jiraiya as she dropped money for her bill, and a decent tip for the chef onto the bar. "Times a wasting!" She said with a grin.

"Still think that she's harmless, Itachi?" whispered one person in the back of the place to another sitting across from him.

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"Naruto! What did you do, and how did you learn to do it?" Jiraiya demanded as he raced after the girl. "AND WHAT IS WITH THAT NAME YOU JUST CALLED ME!"

"With what? Ero-sennin?" Naruto tried to look innocent again, she failed badly.

"That technique, AND DON'T CALL ME THAT!" Jiraiya roared as he chased after the girl.

"My technique is similar to the Hyuuga's, but not as refined. You see, Neji and Hinata are my two best friends and they both taught me. However, without the Byakugan, I couldn't learn the exact style; I had to tweak it a bit. Instead, I can either focus my chakra into explosive waves that I release from my palms causing more external damage which is harder to dodge than a regular punch. Another form, which I don't use often, is when I form spikes on my palms that cause a great deal of internal damage. They're more effective in battle, but MUCH harder because I need to maintain them also. During the Chuunin exams I didn't show either of these abilities though!" Naruto suddenly felt a little stupid. Both techniques could have helped in fighting Orochimaru… Sandaime might even still be alive if she had used them.

"Then why'd you just use those techniques back there?"

"Because those two needed to be knocked down a few pegs." Naruto was completely serious in her reply.

"I see…"


	19. Huntress

Tori: Summertime summertime summertime summertime…

Zas: Summertime summertime summertime summertime …

SA: … Summertime…

Saria: Summerti… (eyes SA who is hefting a mallet) Working time, working time, working time, working time…

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"Hey, ero-sennin! Are you going to teach me anything?" Internally, Naruto smothered a laugh at Jiraiya's look at his new nickname.

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" Jiraiya's face was beet red again. "However, as to what I'll be teaching you to make this journey worthwhile will be a technique created by the Yondaime Hokage that is called Rasengan."

Naruto stared as Jiraiya stepped off of the road and up to a tree. He summoned raw chakra to his hand in what Naruto could only describe as similar to a "confused tornado." This mess was shoved into the tree, and before Naruto's eyes, the trunk was chewed up by the chakra. She whistled slightly at the indent left in the trunk, impressed also that this technique seemed to leave no apparent marks, though that would likely be different on the body of a human being.

"That was the Rasengan."

Naruto blinked at Jiraiya; did he think that she was stupid?

"Really? No, I thought that that was a different technique! It just wasn't obvious enough when you told me about the technique and then seemed to just step off the road for no reason at all! I honestly thought that you were mad at the tree!" Naruto used an overly sweet voice, and it was oozing with sarcasm.

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Sasuke charged into the town that the cook at the Ichiraku ramen stand had told him about. Apparently Naruto had shown up for a last minute bowl of ramen, and had only gotten one so he had asked what was going on and Naruto had told him. When Sasuke had asked, he had been told by the cook where she went, and that she was traveling with an old man. He hadn't cared anything about the man beyond getting a description.

Dashing into the first shop, he asked if the clerk if he had seen either Naruto, who he described as having white hair, and an old man who also had white hair. He got a negative response.

Several streets down, he got a positive response from the owner of a small food restaurant. Apparently a young girl that was about Sasuke's age had come in that morning and had eaten breakfast there before an old man who had matched the description of the second person had come and they started fighting over some dango before a guy with an expensive coat had gotten hit with some of the dango and the girl had easily defeated the two guys before running off, after paying her bill.

Sasuke quickly dashed off in the direction that the two had supposedly gone and checked inn after inn before finding one where the desk clerk had seen the two, and got the news that they had already checked out and left.

As Sasuke was leaving, he noticed two figures in black cloaks with red clouds on them. Aside from the weirdness of the clothing, Sasuke noted nothing of interest and left, all the while pondering why Naruto had signed in as "Uzuta Shale" and not Naruto, but also pleased that he had described her instead of asking for her by name.

'Where did they go from here?' he wondered as he walked down the street. 'Is Naruto an apprentice to that guy, or is he just a client? Is this some sort of diplomatic mission or just an escort? I need some more clues, and it seems that the only person who can give me those is Naruto anymore.'

He asked around again until he got a general idea in the direction that Naruto and the old guy had left the town, then ran down the road, hoping to catch up to them, and also hoping for some answers when he did catch up.

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Naruto and Jiraiya were arguing again, only this time she was arguing about how he should be giving her a general idea on how to do something. This had all started when Jiraiya had given the girl a water balloon and had told her to pop it. She had, on his head.

"You said to pop it!" Naruto yelled at the old man as she followed him down the road.

"Any idiot should have known that that didn't mean on my head!" Jiraiya yelled back, turning in mid-stride to answer her.

"You should know better than to leave sentences like that open so wide! You said "pop the balloon," and I popped it!"

"I wanted you to use your chakra to pop it! Not throw it AT ME!"

"FINE THEN!" Naruto screamed as she grabbed another water balloon and focused her chakra in a similar fashion to how Neji and Hinata had taught her. As she did this, she struggled to make it take on the ball form that the Rasengan had been in. The balloon popped, in a horrific explosion as a ball of raw chakra lashed out of Naruto's hand.

"Well, is that any better, ero-sennin?" Naruto asked as she wiped excess water off of her face.

"That was an explosion, not like what I showed you! AND STOP CALLING ME THAT!"

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Sasuke raced down the road that Naruto was supposedly traveling on. As he rounded another curve in the road, he heard to people arguing up ahead. They were both really loud, and seemed to be arguing about explosions. Soon enough, both were in sight, and both had white hair.

'Found you,' he thought triumphantly.

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Both Naruto and Jiraiya felt Sasuke's approach, but chose to ignore him for a while as their argument continued, at least until Sasuke, who had been watching their argument for several minutes began tapping his foot. Naruto chose to call a truce at that point and then both she and Jiraiya pummeled Sasuke with the remaining water balloons.

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Three days had passed.

Naruto was peeved.

Jiraiya was peeved.

Sasuke refused to go back to Konoha. He followed the two around and kept trying to demand answers from Naruto on what she did, how strong she was, and various other things.

As for Naruto's training, she proved over and over to Sasuke that she was a good ninja as she managed to slip away and lose him continuously so she could train alone. She also had to make her hiding places more unexpected so he couldn't second guess where she was. She was also learning first hand that training with the Rasengan while practicing water walking was difficult, but left little damage for Sasuke to examine if he did happen to find her. That was how it came to pass that Naruto was practicing the Rasengan in a hot spring, one for women only. In the middle of the night, when she REALLY wished she could just go to bed.

Still, she was progressing nicely with the Rasengan and was working on the second stage. She had managed to get the balloon to pop the way Jiraiya had wanted her to and was now focusing on the rubber ball, the stage where she added power to the technique. So far she had made the ball pop before, but decided to work more on the stage since she still had problems where she might do something like make the ball explode from too much power or just wiggle slightly from not enough. Still, she was catching on at a pace that seemed to confuse Jiraiya, whom she still called "ero-sennin" to his face.

Shoving chakra into her hand, Naruto immediately began to focus on spinning the chakra into the ball formation, with the many currents it needed. Feeling it beginning to take shape, Naruto loaded power into the technique. In her hand, the ball began to distort and wriggle, squirming from the pressure of the technique.

'Just a little more…' she thought as she forced the chakra to spin faster rather than add anymore.

"POP!"

Naruto stared at the scraps of the once rubber ball in her hand and smiled slightly. She was going to show Jiraiya her success on this step tomorrow and hopefully start the next and last step.

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Sasuke was certain that Naruto had gone nuts. She had been avoiding him for over three days, even when they were on the road. She had been out late at night, and he'd been hard pressed to try to find her, which only occurred twice, and her getting away both times.

Now, she walked before him on the road, ignoring him again while focusing on a balloon that she was holding in her right hand. The part that seemed crazy was that she was molding chakra in the balloon, making it wiggle and often explode, causing her to curse loudly before filling another balloon and trying again. Yep, she definitely seemed to have cracked.

Another thing that annoyed him though was that the old guy seemed to not find anything weird about what she was doing, in fact he seemed to laugh each time she messed up.

They had arrived in a town earlier today, and the old man, Jiraiya as he called himself, went around asking if anyone in the gambling houses had seen a woman who was known as the "Legendary Sucker." At this Sasuke just had to roll his eyes, mainly because he did not understand why they were looking for someone like THAT. As the old man continued to look around, Naruto had announced that she wanted to see an old castle that was in the city. Not seeing anything better to do, Sasuke decided to escort her.

The walk to the castle seemed like the typical walk through a maze-like structure with tall walls. There were few plants after they passed the main gates. However, it annoyed Sasuke that the few people that they passed seemed to think that because he and Naruto were walking around together, that they actually WERE together. It annoyed him when he heard one woman whisper to her friend about how they were "Such a cute couple." Beside him, Naruto also stiffened at the comment.

When they reached the main structure of the castle, Sasuke could only say that he was bored by it. Naruto on the other hand was having a blast, especially since she had pulled out another balloon and was causing it to distort randomly into various shapes, a task she seemed to find amusing. A little child, who must have thought of it as amusing also, started clapping and giggling at the girl's antics also. Then a giant snake exploded from the castle.

"Everyone get out of here!" Naruto shouted as she grabbed the child who she had been playing around with and jumped out of the way. Sasuke stared at the snake in shock as other people slowly turned and ran also, screaming for their lives.

When Sasuke finally did turn and follow Naruto, he just barely caught up as she sent the child down with his mother and had given a firm order to get away from the area, and then she turned and ran back towards the castle.

"Naruto, are you insane?" He shouted as he took off after the girl again.

"No, I'm buying these people some time!"

Sasuke groaned and smacked his forehead with the back of his hand right before he smacked his nose into Naruto's back when the girl came to a sudden stop.

"Why'd you stop?" He demanded as he tried to straighten his nose.

"It's him again…" Naruto murmured. "The one from the Forest of Death."

"What? Where is he?" Sasuke dropped into a defensive stance as he glanced around, looking for that snake-like nin that had attacked them.

"Right in front of us…" Naruto replied softly. "AND YOU'RE NOT GETTING AWAY THIS TIME!"

For the umpteenth time that day, Sasuke swore that Naruto had to be insane as she glomped the snake.

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Several hours later, Naruto was fighting down the urge to scream. The snake had gotten away again, only this time it was because Sasuke, the little bastard, had yanked her off the snake. They had caught up with Jiraiya in the maze structures surrounding the castle, and had discovered a crumpled wall that he had reported as "Tsunade's work." Of course, there was no Tsunade in sight.

What really made Naruto mad was that this meant that she was going to be stuck on this trip a longer while. That meant she was going to be around Sasuke for more time, and that she was not going to get a good hunt for a while either.

Then, of all things, Jiraiya had wanted to go into a bar to get a drink, and there was Tsunade, the one that the council hoped to make the Godaime Hokage, Naruto now realized. She was especially thankful that Sasuke wasn't there when she had gotten into a fight with the woman when she had dared to speak badly of the Hokages' and those who wished to become one.

So, the summary of these events wound down to: she was stuck with Sasuke for a while longer, she could not go on a true hunt for a while longer, she was hungry, the snake had gotten away, she's gotten into a fight with a woman who was at least fifty years old AND LOST, and last but not least, she had some how entered into a bet with that woman about how she could master the Rasengan in a weeks time. Naruto was not concerned by the bet at all, as far as the Rasengan went, she just needed another day or two to practice with it. HOWEVER, the fact that she had gotten into such a stupid bet did annoy her, but still not as much as her loss in that fight.

'Damnit!' She thought as she walked down the hall towards her room in the inn that the now trio were staying in. 'How can someone that old be that strong? And where am I going to practice tomorrow? I am NOT going to let that damned Uchiha steal this technique, nor am I going to allow him the benefit of even guessing how much stronger than him I am.'

Stopping in front of her door, Naruto absently shoved her key into the lock and turned, right as her sixth sense hit her full in the face. Shoving her back against the door, Naruto quickly slid down into a squatting position, a kunai ready in her hand.

Shoving the door roughly with her shoulder, she dodged into the room, the shuriken that the intruder threw whizzing by well above her head. Setting herself back in a standing ready position, Naruto surveyed the intruder.

It was the shorter man that she seemed to have encountered a lot in the last several days. He was standing in a nonchalant manner in the middle of her room, holding her hunter mask in one hand, and the opened scroll addressed to Uchiha Itachi in the other.

She felt her jaw go lax temporarily, before finally daring to look the guy full in the face for the first time, and the gasp really did come.

Standing before her was none other than Uchiha Itachi. And he was smiling.

"Huntress," he said in a silky voice, "you'll find things aren't always as you believe, and the bigger the ego one has, the more they like to boast."

"What?" Naruto demanded, her eyes going wide. 'He must be referring to my foolishness on not hiding that mask or scroll. God, what if Sasuke had been the one to come in and search my stuff? Not that this is in any way better.'

"Think about it more when you get the chance," Itachi replied, as he took a step forward.

Naruto tried to raise her kunai, tried to back out of the room, tried to call for help, but she found herself paralyzed, unable to do anything but stare as Itachi drew closer.

"Remember my words well and always keep your mind open. And make sure that you read your first scroll soon, those dates only represent when they should be read by." Itachi whispered the last sentence in her ear but somehow managed to keep his eyes in contact with his, until Naruto felt a tug of chakra and warm arms right before her world went dark once again.

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Saria: Well? Any suggestions on pairings for characters?

SA: Better yet, anyone going to finally review?

Tori: You're being mean…

Zas: (sweatdrop) I'm swimming in a pool of estrogen….


	20. Missing

Saria: (staring, mouth agape)

Zas: Saria? (snaps fingers in front of her face)

SA: Relax, she's just shocked, so am I for that matter…

Tori: OUR MOST REVIEWS EVER! HURRAY! (Grabs a plate full of cookies, brownies, and candy) GOODIES FOR THE REVIEWERS!

Zas: HOLD IT! I WANT A BROWNIE!

SA: (smacks both Zas and Saria across the backs of their heads) Knock it off, and GET BACK TO WORK!

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Sasuke lumbered down the hall of the inn angrily. The reason was simple enough; Naruto was missing.

He and the old man had looked for her all over, and aside from her bag which was still in her room; they had found no sign of her. Sasuke had tried looking through some of her stuff for some clues as to her location, but had knocked it off immediately after finding the girl's underwear. He had had to fight off a rather bad nose bleed after that event.

Jiraiya on the other hand, didn't seem all that worried. He had told Sasuke that Naruto had gotten into a bet with a woman and that she must be out training so that she could win the bet. Sasuke didn't buy it.

From what he had seen about Naruto, she was not that stupid. She was relentless, determined, and stubborn, but not in a way that would let her go and make random bets. He didn't even know what this one was for or about though, so there was probably a good reason.

After the initial day of searching, Jiraiya had deemed it was more worth his time to drink and go to brothels, an act that further annoyed Sasuke.

'He is definitely no ninja,' Sasuke thought as he left the old man to his activities. 'Naruto has been missing for three days and that guy is acting as though it's nothing. If she is out training, I need to find her, see if I can learn anything as far as techniques go. Maybe even get a good spar in, if she is a worthy opponent…'

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Naruto had woken up in her room after her encounter with Itachi, lying in the bed where he had evidently placed her. Dawn was almost an hour away.

Jumping from the bed, she had fled the room in the inn, taking only her mask and the scrolls addressed to her with her.

That first day, she had practiced, and perfected, the Rasengan. That same day, she had attempted to open each of the scrolls that were addressed to her and found that only one would open. Written in the scroll was a number of jutsus, most of them wind based, but there were at least three for every element.

She had no idea how wind jutsus were supposed to act, so she decided to start with the fire techniques first.

There were five fire techniques on the scroll, all listed as very difficult to learn, after three days she could perform only one, a fire technique that would cause an immense flare of fire to create a temporary shield that surrounded the user. It could act either as a shield or an all around offensive technique should the person put more chakra into the shield and make it expand. It had been fun and simple to learn.

The second technique however, was VERY difficult. In this technique, the ninja would wrap the fire around their body to create an armor of fire. So far, Naruto had been able to create the armor, but also ended up giving herself burns and badly singed clothing if she tried to move. She knew that she almost had the technique though; she just needed to work on how to properly coat her skin in chakra so she could move with the armor active.

Wiping a bit of sweat from her brow, she looked up at the sky to see that night was fast approaching.

'Well, it's been three days; ero-sennin and Sasuke are probably drunk of their ass and wondering where I am… And I'm hungry,' Naruto thought, smiling as she grabbed the scroll and rolled it up. 'I'll check in with ero-sennin, get some food, harass Sasuke some, grab some sleep, and then get back to training.' Hooking her mask to her waistband, Naruto took off in the direction of the town that she had left her compatriots in.

'What did Itachi mean though, when he said that stuff the other night? Things aren't always as you believe… The bigger someone's ego, the more they like to boast… Sounds almost like a fancy way of saying look underneath the underneath, but don't miss what is right in front of you. But, why did he say keep my mind open?' These thoughts continued to chase each other around in Naruto's head as she continued toward the town.

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Jiraiya was in tears as Naruto, assisted by Sasuke, dragged him out of the bar and towards a decent restaurant. He had been thoroughly enjoying himself before the two had shown up, the ladies were so nice, and had excellent bodies. Then Naruto came in.

He didn't know how, but after he initially refused to leave, Naruto had convinced all the women in the bar that he was a regular disease carrying pervert. She had been very detail oriented in the various ways that she had had to disinfect all of his clothes. At the end of her speech, even Sasuke was staring with his mouth agape. After that, Jiraiya seriously doubted that he would be allowed into the place ever again.

Neither kid had wasted time after though. Naruto had winked at Sasuke, informing him of her roust, and then both kids had grabbed him and drug him from the bar.

"All those pretty girls…" Jiraiya half-sobbed as the two young ninjas yanked him through the door of a restaurant. "You both have ruined my life!"

"Would you prefer miso soup or clear broth, ero-sennin?"

"STOP CALLING ME THAT!" Naruto promptly erupted with laughter. Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Miso and sake."

"And for your main dish?"

"Tempura you brats."

"And we love you too," was Naruto's cheeky reply as she gave him a grin. "Sasuke?"

"Katsu don, miso, and water."

"Aren't we talkative tonight?"

"Brat," a voice came from behind Naruto, and all at the table turned to see who the speaker was. Jiraiya felt his day simultaneously get better and worse because right behind Naruto stood Tsunade.

"So, have you given up yet?" Tsunade demanded as she looked down on the young, white haired girl.

"Nope," Naruto answered with a cheery smile. "In fact, you have already lost. I perfected the technique days ago."

In all his days of knowing Tsunade, never before had Jiraiya wished more that he had a camera on him, not even that one time that they had played strip-poker with Orochimaru when they were sixteen. That wish went unanswered as Jiraiya wished it even harder as he saw Naruto form a full Rasengan, outside of Sasuke's line of sight he noticed, and Tsunade's eyes began to resemble one of frogs from how much they were bulging.

"You never were good at gambling Tsunade," he pointed out with a laugh. "Whatever possessed you to make such a bet?"

"Tsunade-sama has been having an excellent winning streak recently!" Jiraiya noted that Shizune was the one who answered.

"Kid won, and a bets a bet," Tsunade said as she suddenly slipped the necklace off of her neck and handed it to Naruto, who received it with much delight. "And as promised, I will return to Konoha. However, we need to stay here until the end of the week; I have some business I need to attend to." Jiraiya decided right then that he didn't like that smile.

"Mind if we join you for now though?"

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Sasuke could only stare as a woman who had by far the biggest breasts that he had ever seen, slipped into the space between him and Naruto after stealing a chair from another table. Her assistant did the same. He was now stuck between the assistant and the old man.

"So we're going to be here for another four days?" Naruto groaned as the two women settled down. "But I really would like to return to my duties, see if I got a promotion or not, and Sasuke REALLY needs to change his clothes."

"You both do!" Was the reply from the big breasted woman, Tsunade.

"We should take them shopping tomorrow, Tsunade-sama. Get them both at least one change of clothes." The assistant was the one that spoke this time.

"Good idea, Shizune!"

"But I don't need anymore clothes! I was invited on this journey and actually packed some clothes, unlike others." At that, both Sasuke and Naruto started a glaring match. That escalated into an under the table kicking match, until Tsunade slammed her fist into the table, which badly shuddered but didn't break.

"Geez! Take it easy obaa-chan!" Naruto yelled at the woman, and Sasuke found himself reevaluating his earlier thoughts about Naruto not being stupid. She still wasn't necessarily stupid, but was seriously lacking in the common sense department.

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The next four days were torture for Naruto, Tsunade and Shizune insisted on gambling and shopping each day. The only reason that she had stood for it thus far and had not just 'disappeared' one night was because they always had a two hour training session where either Tsunade or Shizune would teach a new technique. Naruto enjoyed the training and found that a number of things that the women had to teach could come in handy, such as the medical jutsus, but also the various other techniques and sparring forms the women knew.

Sasuke apparently thought the same as Naruto because he came everyday, though Naruto as thought it was because he was getting some really good blackmail material. He had gone with them on the first day and trained, but the next day he had told Naruto that medical jutsus were a waste of time and after that day he wouldn't be coming with them anymore. Then Shizune had made Naruto try on a bikini that had very little material to it. Despite what he'd said before, Sasuke had joined the women the next day.

Naruto had managed to continue training with the scroll though, running off with it right after dinner each day and would practice for hours, often into the next morning. Luckily though, it seemed as though no one aside from Sasuke was an early riser, so no one noticed.

Her fire armor had finally been perfected, so she had moved to the next technique, a technique that was referred to as the Sea of Fire. The scroll had read that when done properly, this technique would cause an enormous blaze to erupt before the user, very hard for an opponent to dodge, but also good for covering escape routes. The technique could also make all water sources also catch fire and it was a great jutsu to use in conjunction with water techniques, preferably when you were either clear of water yourself or your opponent was wet.

'This is SOO helpful,' Naruto thought as she rolled her eyes. 'Next time I see Orochimaru; I'll either throw a glass of water on him or invite him for a bath.'

She had only skimmed over the jutsu and moved straight on to the fourth jutsu. The fourth jutsu was a timed release one where the person who did the technique could push some chakra into the ground and set a "timer" until the technique was activated. What happened then was that a flaming geyser would erupt from the ground and, if timed right, hit a moving target as it passed over the spot. Naruto believed that this was a technique that was better used for ambushes.

The last fire jutsu, which Naruto hoped to get some working knowledge of that night, was called Rising Phoenix. It was like a cross between a normal fire jutsu and a summoning jutsu. The reason was because that when this technique is used, a phoenix is temporarily "summoned" to the fight and it can attack on its own will, independently of the summoner.

'Hopefully, here goes something other than my clothes,' Naruto thought as she began the seals.

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The next morning came too soon for some of the people in the Konoha group. Sasuke was not one of them.

That morning, he noticed that Tsunade was up much earlier than she usually was, and that she departed for somewhere, by herself.

Not even ten minutes later, after he had told Shizune about this weird occurrence when she asked him if he had seen Tsunade, he found himself dragging a still smashed Jiraiya after Shizune, who in turn was helping a slightly stiff looking Naruto along. Naruto however, snapped out of it pretty fast, and after a few hurried words from Shizune, took off down the street at an amazing pace. The old man though, didn't bounce back so easily.

When he finally arrived at the location where Naruto, Shizune, and Tsunade were, what he saw was that Shizune and Naruto were in ready stances in front of Tsunade, facing against two figures, one was Kabuto, and the other was less familiar.

Kabuto sprand forward, bringing a very wicked looking kunai to bearing, but was blocked by Naruto who yelled for Shizune to get back and to figure out what was wrong with Tsunade.

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Naruto engaged Kabuto the same as she had engaged many other opponents in the past, with an offensive defense. She felt more than saw Shizune move back to assist Tsunade, and promptly made a kick at Kabuto's left knee, hoping to temporarily immobilize him. Her kick was countered by Kabuto's, and both of them jumped back quickly.

"Well well, Naruto-chan, what a treat to be able to see you again." Orochimaru's voice was like ice, and he displayed no sign of aggression.

'Careful, I hacked off this guy's foot and hand; he has got to want revenge in some way. And this time, I have to fight like a hunter nin, not an angry child.' Pulling her kunai back, Naruto easily slipped into her opening form for her best fighting style, the non-Byakugan style of Jyuuken that she had developed with the help of Hinata and Neji.

"Now Naruto-chan, must you always resort to violence? I merely wanted to have a talk with Tsunade-hime."

"Some talk," Naruto replied, venom dripping in her tone. "Seems more like you wanted something that she wasn't going to give and you were going to try to kill her for refusing you."

"I do as I must. Have you considered my offer to you yet?"

"You'd think a person would get a clue after they get two of their appendages chopped off."

"That answer will change soon enough Naruto-chan."

"Orochimaru!" Jiraiya rushed at the other, and fell flat on his face. "Naruto, take care of Kabuto, I'll handle Orochimaru."

Naruto stared at the sennin as though he were crazy, then glancing back at Orochimaru, she realized that he was just as bad of shape as Jiraiya was in. This fight would be decided between her and Kabuto.

"You'll have me as an opponent!" Kabuto shouted as he rushed at Jiraiya, his intention to protect Orochimaru clear.

"You only wish!" Naruto yelled as she shoved herself between Jiraiya and Kabuto and caught the bespectacled man in the chin with a hard kick, knocking him back about ten feet before he caught himself on his hands and feet. Naruto didn't wait for him to get up, she simply ran at him as though to attack head-on, then spun on her toes, using her momentum to cause her to circle around Kabuto so she could attack his back.

Charging up her hands with chakra, Naruto began her assault with her explosive chakra waves, aimed at Kabuto's back. Kabuto merely jumped forward and turned himself, effectively dodging Naruto's attack. Dashing forward, the girl swung her open right hand at Kabuto's stomach and used the momentum to swing herself around so she could follow up with her left hand when Kabuto dodged backwards again. This time however, Kabuto was ready and caught the Naruto's arm at her wrist, pulling his other hand back to strike with a chakra enforced blow that would sever her muscle. His arm in turn was caught at the wrist and Naruto used her smaller size to her benefit by shoving her legs up between them and landed a glancing blow on his chin again.

By this time, Kabuto had released her arm to avoid the full force of the blow, but Naruto held firm to his arm. Yanking back her now free arm, she decided to end the fight there and then, and formed a Rasengan in her free hand and slammed it into Kabuto's midsection, the same time his own free hand reached out and touched her chest. Naruto fell to the ground though while Kabuto slammed into a rock.

Both felt sharp pains immediately, and both began healing jutsus also, Naruto glad once again that she had trained some with Tsunade and Shizune.

Behind her, Naruto heard Tsunade stir and get up, reaching Naruto and checking her before starting her own healing jutsu.

"It's useless," she heard Kabuto call from where he was forcing himself up. "I cut the muscles around her heart, you can't help her." A weird gagging noise followed, and Kabuto fell to the ground again.

Of course, Naruto wasn't going to be shown up by the likes of him, so she called back, "If it were so useless, then why am I still here?" She felt glorified in Kabuto's shocked gaze.

Orochimaru chose that moment to attack though, and Naruto's stomach fell when she saw that he was aiming at Tsunade.

'Not again,' she thought as she pushed Tsunade out of the way. She smiled sweetly at the sannin even as the sword that he was holding in his mouth plowed through her stomach as her hands grabbed the sides of the snake-nin's head. As blackness began to grow from the sides of her vision, she began to put pressure on Orochimaru's head, earning a yelp from the man before her hands were stopped when two senbon pierced her wrists, their source: Kabuto. And attempting to engage Kabuto in battle was…

"Sasuke!"

"Sasuke-kun," Orochimaru whispered with a smirk, right as his neck extended.

"Sasuke, MOVE!" Naruto yelled, as she fought to stay conscious, managing to force back the blackness. Shoving her shoulder into Orochimaru's body, she was able to knock him off course for a moment, but it still wasn't enough.

Sasuke's yell of pain afterwards was blocked out as Naruto summoned the Fox Boss, Inari, and a smaller fox that was called Geishou.

"Geishou, grab the boy with the dark hair and get him away from those two," Naruto called from the top of Inari's head.

"Hai!" shouted the fox as he charged at Orochimaru with blinding speed, grabbing Sasuke's shirt in his mouth and hauling him away.

Moments later, three more summons appeared, a snake, a slug, and a toad.


	21. Innocent?

Saria: WAAAHHHH! (is holding her head as she sobs, LOUDLY)

SA: (covering her ears) And I thought Tori was a baby…

Tori: (is also covering her ears) Relax, she's just upset that she's going back to school, and none of her original friends will be there this year…

SA: Hardly a reason to pitch a fit like this one… (nods at an oblivious Saria who continues to bawl)

Tori: (looks around) Where's Zas?

Zas: (had a headset on) Zzzzz….

SA and Tori: BAKA! (hit Zas over his head with a mallet and a cookbook respectively)

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It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, and four gynormous summons were squaring off in the middle of it all. Gamabunta was the first to speak though.

"A FOX! JIRAIYA, YOU KNOW HOW I FEEL ABO… Oh, it's just the brat."

"Tsunade-sama, whose side is the fox on?" Naruto was rather surprised by the snail's soft voice and manner.

"Ours," Tsunade replied.

"Hey, Orochimaru, you know that foxes kill snakes, don't you?" Naruto asked, a feral grin spreading across her face. Beneath her, she felt it as Inari bit back on a laugh as he eyed the large snake, Manda, and its two passengers.

"Orochimaru, why have you summoned me?"

'Looks like Manda doesn't much care for Orochimaru…' Naruto thought as she watched the act unfold, not feeling in the least bit sorry for Kabuto when looked downtrodden when Manda called him a brat. 'As for how this battle will play out, Orochimaru is definitely at the disadvantage here, he's injured and unable to perform jutsus, Kabuto will have to defend him constantly, with the logical conclusion if you were trying to engage him being to separate the two, making Kabuto guard himself, and take Orochimaru out immediately. So, I'll have Inari engage Manda while I attack Kabuto and send several kage bunshins at Orochimaru…'

All she needed right now was a fast distraction.

'3, 2, 1…'

Jiraiya and Gamabunta jumped forward at that moment, the large toad pulling an enormous dagger and striking at Orochimaru. Manda reacted by biting at the dagger. Perfect.

"Inari, attack the snake!" Naruto yelled from the top of the fox's head.

"HAI!" replied the summon as he barreled forward and sank his teeth into the midsection of the snake, giving Naruto a clear shot at the head where Orochimaru and Kabuto were.

Leaping from Inari's head, Naruto used chakra to stick her feet to the surface of the snake as she raced at Kabuto, intent to try to take out Orochimaru's defense and offense simultaneously, but refrained from making any shadow clones when she noticed Tsunade also rushing toward a fight, against Orochimaru.

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Both Kabuto and Orochimaru noticed the fast approaching women, and both chose to abandon Manda's head before they could confront them.

"Kabuto, take care of Naruto-chan, but gently, no permanent harm," Orochimaru ordered as the two women approached, Naruto already moving to attack Kabuto.

"Yes, Orochimaru-sama," replied Kabuto as he prepared for round number two.

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'Okay, Tsunade is going to be busy, so I need to keep this guy from landing any blows, they might prove to be fatal,' Naruto thought as she remembered Tsunade having to save her from that one blow. 'But, if he can't touch me…' A wicked smile crossed Naruto's lips for only a moment.

Slowing her run down just slightly, Naruto fired through the seals for the fire armor and raised it right before Kabuto could try to land his first blow. The result: Kabuto had a badly burned hand and Naruto was following up with an attack of her own, batting a hand with explosive chakra across the burned limb, causing immense pain for Kabuto as the burned area increased and the already damaged area sustained greater damage.

Despite the pain he was in though, Kabuto noticed that Naruto retracted the flaming armor after he burned himself and kicked her legs out from under her, right after the further damage she dealt to his arm.

Catching herself with both hands as she fell, Naruto twisted her body into a spinning kick aimed at Kabuto's legs also, but he jumped back, noticing also that Tsunade was attacking Orochimaru and landing hit after hit on him.

"I'll deal with you later," he fiercely whispered to Naruto as he charged at the battle.

"No!" Naruto hissed as she grabbed his legs and hauled the older teen to the ground. "I'LL deal with YOU now and assist Tsunade afterwards!" At that moment though, she caught a glimpse of Kabuto's hateful eyes. Those were the same eyes that she had seen each time she had dared to go outside in her youth, even her supposed "care-takers" had looked at her with those eyes. They bore a look in them that Naruto hadn't seen for a while, that she NEVER wanted to see again, and deep within her the rage began to build.

"STOP IT!" she spat in Kabuto's face, as she dragged him back, completely unaware that she was now spewing dark chakra.

"STOP LOOKING AT ME WITH THOSE EYES!" she roared as Kabuto actually flinched, fear causing him to go pale, but his eyes remained hard. Naruto was angrier than ever, and the cursed seal fed upon it, expanding out over her body, the nine tail-like patterns expanding back over her body as she stood up and roared her fury, causing all the battles on the field to come to a grinding halt as her battle aura increased to horrific levels.

On the ground, Kabuto slowly inched away from the enraged girl, still not quite sure as to what he had done. He slowly continued to back away until he was even with his master.

"Orochimaru-sama, perhaps it is time to leave," he whispered.

"Perhaps you are right, Kabuto. Until next time, Tsunade-hime. Take good care of Naruto-chan for me." Then both the snake-nin and his subordinate disappeared using a transportation jutsus, right as the still enraged demon vessel charged at them.

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The red haze was circling Naruto's mind again, but this time she felt power in the haze, and a promise for more… All she had to do was follow…

'KIT! STOP!' shrieked a voice that jolted Naruto from the haze and brought her back to the present.

'What? Kyuubi? KYUUBI!' Naruto's mental calls to the kitsune seemed futile, because aside from that initial scream, she heard nothing from her tenant.

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In the real world, everyone was recovering from the mess of the battle. Shizune was doing all she could for Sasuke, but he remained unresponsive to her or the world around him. The summons all disappeared, smoke appearing and temporarily obscuring vision on the field. Tsunade and Jiraiya both were worriedly glancing at Naruto, both thinking the same thought.

'Is that the power that Kyuubi affords her?'

Glancing around nervously, Naruto could only think of one way to break the tension that now hung in the air. Gingerly rubbing the back of her head as she laughed slightly, she stated simply, "Well, that's one way to break up a fight!"

"BAKA!" shouted two voices before they started laughing as well, though their laughter wasn't as forced as Naruto's was.

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"KUSO KUSO KUSO KUSO KUSO!" Naruto yelled as loud as she could as she pounded her head into the wall of the room she was in. 'How is it that that damned snake bastard can always make it so that no matter what the fight is about, no one can ever have a full victory over him? Is he that bad of a loser?'

"Naruto," Shizune's voice came from the doorway, "I'm pretty sure that you punishing the wall like that will not help Sasuke in anyway right now. He needs to fight this himself and we can't help."

"Maybe not, but I need to work off some steam." 'Besides, I was out for only one night, roughly ten hours, at longest… Sasuke has been out for, what? Fourteen hours? Longer?' Naruto also felt a need to get away so she could try to contact Kyuubi again, and she felt a little weird with the idea of doing it with other people present.

"Well, I don't suggest either Tsunade-sama's or Jiraiya's methods of releasing some steam. Tsunade-sama had already lost over 50,000 ryou today in gambling, and Jiraiya has probably spent just as much on sake and women."

"I know, and my way of blowing some steam is to go somewhere where I can be alone, have some peace, and do a meditation." 'Then I'll need to do some gambling myself most likely so we can just get back to Konoha.'

"Well then, I would suggest going out to the temple that is right outside of town. The monks allow people to visit the grounds and perform meditations in peace… WHOOSH! Naruto?"

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"Orochimaru-sama, why do you still pursue that girl?" asked Kabuto as they finally returned to the base. "There are plenty of other chooses of women, and many can be found right here in the Sound."

"Because, Kabuto, that girl has much more potential than any other that we have seen. Beautiful, strong, determined, any child that she may produce would be an incredible asset as long as it is produced with the right male."

"Then why place the cursed seal on her?"

"Because, choosing the vessel for a bloodline is like choosing an actual container. You want someone strong that can also bring several positive things to the equation. The fact that she is the demon vessel of Kyuubi makes little difference. For you see, Kabuto, the cursed seal will…"

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"DO WHAT!" Naruto howled at Kyuubi, who looked worse than ever. Sitting down hard in the water on the floor, she took several deep breaths to try to calm her nerves.

"I'm certain of it now, Kit," the demon whispered weakly from behind the bars of its cage. "That damned seal was meant to forcefully draw chakra from deep within you. Unfortunately for me, with me being here, that odd seal simply starts to carve me up instead. The original seal that is on you doesn't let me heal though, so that is why it is truly having such a bad effect."

"So, this seal on my neck is tearing you apart… What might this eventually lead to?" Naruto was almost afraid of what the answer would be.

"You already suspect, so don't play dumb, kit, I taught you better than that. But, I shall admit that it means that with much more use, I will be torn to pieces within the seal, yet be unable to die, yet won't be alive."

Gulping slightly, Naruto looked at her partner, a demon she had been at peace with since she had been only five years old.

"In other words, you will continue to exist, but as a ghost within my body and not as Kyuubi. But what happens then? And what about Sasuke?"

"I don't know kit… I really don't know."

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Breaking from her meditation, Naruto glanced around the garden that she had stopped in to perform her meditation, feeling faintly surprised when she saw two monks sitting in the grass only about twenty feet away from her, enjoying tea from the looks of it. One of the two noticed her movement and beckoned her to join them.

The tea that was provided was a refreshing brew of brown rice and jasmine, and it had a very pleasing aroma and taste. Naruto drank a single cup, but her stomach wouldn't let her take anymore.

"You were very much into your meditation," one of the monks commented as he lifted his tea cup to his lips. "We asked you several times if you would like to join us for tea; and Heion over there even tried poking you several times. Tell me, what were you meditating on?"

Naruto glanced at the monk, and decided that there would be no harm in giving him a… edited rendition of what she had been doing.

"A problem in my life," she answered, keeping her eyes glued on the empty cup she held. "You see, I have a friend, and I am worried about him because of a seal that is affecting him. I don't know how to remove the seal, yet I know that I have to do something for him because of how much it hurts him."

The other monk, Heion, eyed her slightly. "You're a ninja." That was definitely a comment, not a question. "Will he die if you don't act?"

"No, it's even worse, he'll cease to exist as himself I'm afraid. The seal will rip his mind apart and he'll never be able to repair himself."

"I've never heard of a seal that could do that, what about you, Jinchi?"

Jinchi, the monk who first spoke to her, simply shook his head.

Naruto nodded in understanding. "I suspected as much. The seal that was used was created by a madman, an S-class missing nin who just seems to rejoice in the pain of others."

Jinchi nodded, his expression thoughtful. "The only advice that I can give you is to try to find that man's notes, see if you can figure something out from those. And something tells me that you know where to start and how to get close enough to do this."

Naruto nodded, her face grim. Handing the tea cup to Heion, she thanked them for their advice. Halfway out of the garden, she turned back to thank them for the tea as well, but both monks had already left, and aside from where she had been sitting, none of the grass was bent where the two had been.

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Sasuke woke in pain the next day, and Jiraiya promptly placed a containment seal on him, similar to the one that Sandaime had placed on Naruto.

The march back to Konoha was mostly quiet, mainly because Tsunade and Jiraiya were bummed about losing as much money as they had, and Shizune was bummed that they lost. Sasuke just wasn't inclined to talk, and for once Naruto didn't want to provoke him.

'I need to start acting like an adult now, all the time,' she thought as she watched Sasuke walk, very much aware that he had to be feeling very drained of energy. 'I need to act like an adult if I'm going to rescue the three of us from Orochimaru.'

Reaching into her backpack, for once not caring if Sasuke saw the technique scroll, she pulled out the scroll and stared at it. Something about the scroll just bothered her, like why would this scroll only contain jutsus yet Sandaime had not seen fit to allow her to have it earlier? Certainly there had to be other people who knew the jutsus, so why write them down?

'Something is being hidden here…' Naruto thought, as she continued to gaze at the scroll, and right before her eyes the color of the scroll shifted from white to green. 'What?'

Grabbing the flap to the scroll, she yanked it open, and inside, written in Sandaime's own handwriting, was a quick message.

Naruto,

Most likely, if you're reading this message, it means that I have passed away and have seen fit to pass this information on to you, so that you may continue with the mission. Uchiha Itachi is innocent.


	22. Beginning

Saria: (cough cough hack choke)

SA: …

Tori: …

Zas: SHE'S SICK! NO SCHOOL! NO SCHOOL! (THWACK!)

Saria: (hefting a wooden sword) I'm in no mood Zas!

Tori: Saria! Lie down!

Saria: I NO WANT TO! (shiver hack cough)

SA: Just let her write the chapter…

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Sasuke was once again on the training grounds practicing the chidori. He needed to become stronger, especially if he was going to kill that man. Once again aiming at the rock, he imagined him there, instead of the rock, even as he slammed the chidori into the surface, as if he were aiming at his heart.

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The office for Sandaime was already being cleared out for Tsunade. Seizing her chance to try to get some answers, Naruto volunteered to go through and review all of the paper work left by the old man. Now she was going through EVERYTHING just trying to find what now seemed like a literal needle in a hay stack. She had looked through mission reports first, but that would have been too easy to find it there. So she had found herself rooting through things such as taxation books, building records, photo albums, and a volume of Icha Icha Paradise books.

Hoping for a clue to show itself, she pulled out the first scroll, the one with the message on it, which was once again a white scroll, and focused her thoughts on how not right the scroll was. Seconds later, the scroll was green again and Naruto yanked it open. The full message on the scroll read:

_Naruto,_

_Most likely, if you're reading this message, it means that I have passed away and have seen fit to pass this information on to you, so that you may continue with the mission. Uchiha Itachi is innocent._

_I know that you must be having a hard time believing what this says, but it is true. Hidden within my office is all you will need to continue this case, and to clear not only Itachi's name, not also find the true murderer. Realize this though, until the true murderer has been discovered, even if you clear Itachi's name, he shall not return to the village. Also, it would be wise to make it seem as though Itachi is still the accused, the true perpetrator of the Uchiha genocide will most likely gain a false sense of security. Also, Uchiha Sasuke was not told so that he would not try to track down this party, something that could be fatal to him. Itachi requested this mihself._

_Good luck Naruto, and always remember what I taught you, especially since this game shall be similar to chess. Take into account every piece, know their strengths, and know your battle ground._

_Since this is now your investigation, you may conduct it as you see fit._

'Well, some of the things that the old man has done for the past few years finally make sense,' Naruto thought as she once again folded the scroll. 'When I said that I would bring Itachi back, he encouraged me, and right now I'm in the proper field to continue this investigation unnoticed. A Hunter nin can disappear for months unaccompanied and no one will be the wiser. Now, this will get easier if I can just find those damned notes!'

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Hyuuga Neji was having a good day. His cousin Hanabi had been discovered to have those humiliating pictures of him by the counsel, who had promptly summoned her to speak on matters of how such behavior was not well regarded and beneath a Hyuuga.

Hinata had been commended on her damage control abilities, and how she was able to insure that all of the pictures were rounded up and burned.

Hanabi had had to apologize to Neji, the first inkling of fairness that anyone in the Hyuuga house had ever seen between the Main house and the Branch.

There was no way anyone could get him down!

Then Naruto appeared and dragged him, and Hinata, off to the office of the now deceased Sandaime. She was babbling something about needing to find some papers and how they needed to help her search the office, and how it needed to remain completely secret.

"Naruto, why should we help you?" Neji asked, angry that his happy bubble had been invaded.

Naruto faced them, now completely serious. Neji shivered under the look.

"From this point on, if you choose to continue, know that you are bound by secret. You may not tell anyone without my permission, under no circumstances. Knowing this, will you choose to continue?"

Neji exchanged a quick look with Hinata before deftly nodding to Naruto, Hinata's mirrored nod caught in his peripheral vision.

"Alright, Mariko, come out, will you?"

From a closet, a brown haired girl practically bounced out, her green eyes alive with humor.

Signaling for the three of them to make themselves comfortable, Naruto began.

"I'm sure all of you are aware of the Uchiha massacre that happened here years ago, and that you also know that there were only two survivors, Uchiha Sasuke who is here in the village, and Uchiha Itachi, a missing nin." Receiving nods from all, Naruto continued. "The mission that you have all accepted is to find the killer and bring that person to justice."

Neji felt his heart stop.

"You want us to help you find and kill Uchiha Itachi!"

"No," Naruto's reply drew several shocked looks. "You see, Itachi is innocent, and that is the other half of this investigation. Sandaime knew he was innocent and left notes in this office to prove Itachi's innocence. However, Itachi refuses to return to Konoha until the true killer is found. One of the reasons is that as long as the general public believes that he is guilty, the true guilty party may become careless. Also, Uchiha Sasuke was not told for his own protection."

"But, Sasuke wants to kill Itachi," Hinata's quiet voice murmured.

"From what I can gather, Itachi was willing to take that chance, just to insure that Sasuke would survive. Now, the… Yes Neji?"

"Why are you participating in this investigation? How did you even know of it? You told us that traveled with a traveling ninja, and that is how you learned the ninja arts!"

Naruto smiled at her friend. "And by bringing you into this investigation, I could finally tell you the truth Neji. I did graduate from the Academy, secretly, when I was seven years old. My jounin teacher was to be Uchiha Itachi."

Mariko, who already knew the story, was smiling and nodding, her eyes half-closed. Hinata and Neji however, had not been expecting that, and stared at her intensely.

"The night of my graduation was the same night that the Uchiha massacre occurred though, and my sensei left the village. From then on, my aim was to become a hunter nin, so I could bring him back. Looking back now though, I guess what I really wanted was an explanation. I had been alone for so long before then, thought I'd found someone who wouldn't leave, and the next day he was gone.

Sandaime supported my wish to be a Hunter nin, and I began training immediately, going on training missions, learning from many different people, all sworn to silence about me. At nine years old I was an official Hunter, and for about a year before this exam started I was hunting up to Chuunin level ninjas solo."

Looking at the three people in the office, her closest friends she willingly admitted, she knew she needed to emphasize her next point.

"I may be good at hunting, but I can't do this alone. I NEED help. I'll be out on hunts often enough, but I can't do all of this myself. I asked each of you here for help because of what you can offer. First will be finding those documents, then each will need to perform different tasks.

Hinata, I want you to use your family's vast network and begin to look for clues, this will be easier once we know what we're looking for. Look for anyone suspicious, make contacts, do what you must, in this mission, you are the spy master. And don't you dare say you can't do it, Hinata. I have full confidence in you." Hinata blushed noticeably as Naruto moved on.

"Neji, you are the arm and eyes for this mission. Like Hinata you need to keep your ears open, but I'm aware that your team travels more than Hinata's. While out, I want you to try to meet with contacts, deepen the information network that you will have. Also, look for other people that you believe will be of help to us.

Now Mariko, as a now missing nin, you are capable of going many places that we can't go. You can more easily approach missing nins and ask them what they know or what they've heard, or various rumors. In other words, trade gossip."

The serious mood was ruined the next moment when Mariko pumped her fist into the air and howled, "ALRIGHT!"

Moments later, a chuunin came through the door of the office and shoved a box into Naruto's arms.

"Hey! What's this?" Naruto demanded after the man.

"Sandaime left it to you in his will," was the reply.

Pulling off the lid, Naruto looked in. "His chess set…" Sitting down on the desk, she didn't notice Hinata activating her Byakugan to begin the search.

"You know, he always kept this in his office and used to challenge me to games all the time. He said many times, life was like chess, and to get out of situations, many times people had to act like chess pieces. Strategists were like the knights, able to move themselves in odd patterns. Spies were like the bishops, able to slip away from danger in side ways patterns. People who had a lot of power, but weren't very capable and needed to be directed were Rooks, only capable of moving in straight lines and relying on power to get them through. People who aren't strategists, but are powerful and capable are queens, capable of going far in anything. No one is the king except clients, and those we must protect, and they usually rely on others for help. Finally, those who haven't yet discovered themselves are pawns, and they aren't just sacrificial pieces, for if they can make it to their goal, they can become anything, even a queen. Pawns need to be protected though, or they can't reach this. The trick is doing this while still keeping your mind on the enemy and the objective; that is what it means to lead…"

Hugging the box closely to her, she didn't miss Hinata's raised eyebrows, nor the fact that Mariko was once again dozing.

"Something wrong, Hinata?"

"Naruto, there are papers inside the chess pieces and the board…"

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Sasuke had the misfortune of running into Sakura, who had heard of his injury, on his way home from training. So now, once again, he forced to deal with a doting Sakura who was constantly asking if he needed something or another.

"Mariko, stop acting so weird!" Sasuke recognized the voice immediately, and saw an opportunity to get away from being alone with Sakura.

"It's Naruto," he said, as he upped his pace a bit.

"What about HER?" asked Sakura, and he swore he could almost hear her snarl. "You must be tired of her presence, Sasuke-kun. You were stuck with her for the past few weeks."

Sasuke didn't bother to grace her with an answer as he continued to where he had heard the voice. Sure enough, Naruto, who was holding a box, was walking down the street with Neji, Hinata, and Kakashi's girlfriend, Mariko, who was jumping around the group, and seemed to be scanning the area while wielding a kunai. It was a weird sight.

"But… I'm watching for suspicious characters!" Mariko said this with a pleased look on her face.

"You're going to ATTRACT attention and suspicious characters!" Neji shot at her as he reached over and took the box from Naruto.

"Naruto looks like she's busy Sasuke-kun," Sakura said as she chased after him. "Do you think that she and Neji have hooked up though? They look close!"

"No," replied Sasuke as he watched Naruto grab Mariko and put some sort of jutsu on her. 'He was just freeing up her hands so she could take care of any threats.'

Sakura obviously missed the jutsu though, despite the fact that she began to glare death at Naruto.

'Hinata, Neji, and Mariko obviously know about her… Maybe they can tell me.' He thought as he sped up again and quickly caught up to the group, thankfully leaving Sakura behind.


	23. A Twist

Zas: (nudges Saria) Think anyone noticed the names of the monks in chapter 21?

Saria: (sniff hack cough) What monks?

Tori: Heion and Jinchi of course!

Saria: (sneeze choke) Those two? What about them?

SA: The meaning of those names…

Zas: Yeah!

Saria: Story…

Tori: SARIA!

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Only a day had passed since Naruto had told Hinata, Neji, and Mariko about the mission she wanted their help with and Naruto was already about to be sent out on a hunt by the council.

They had summoned her that morning, she appearing in her hunters garb of course, and told her of the mission. What made this hunt different though, was that it was not a hunt for any leaf ninja, but for a ninja that was a reported missing nin from Kirigakure. They had accepted the mission in an attempt to bring more funds to the village, but also to appear to still be strong.

The ninja she would be hunting was a new jounin, which caught Naruto's attention immediately. This jounin was a woman, just about nineteen years of age, who didn't really seem to specialize in anything except swordsmanship. Naruto was sure that a few wire traps was all it would take to bring her down, which would keep actual hand-to-hand fighting to a minimum. The point was though, Kirigakure wanted this woman brought back alive, no permanent damage done.

Glancing at her mission specs sheet once more before folding it and tucking it into the purple belt of her outfit, she did a quick mental checklist. Her kunai were in the holsters that she had on her arms, hidden by the sleeves of her shirt. Explosive tags and scrolls were either in her belt or strapped to her legs, now hidden in the dress-like pants again, rations, weapons, wire, and other essentials were sealed into the scrolls, and her mask was in hand, hidden by her sleeve, ready to go on once she was out of the village. She was ready.

Walking to the door of her apartment, she started slightly when she found herself face-to-face with Sakura, who seemed to be fuming.

'I never told her where I live, so what is she doing here?' "Why are you here? If it's about training, let me remind you that with the Chuunin exams now over that I'm no longer o…"

"SHUT UP!" Screamed the pink haired banshee. "You've stolen Sasuke-kun from me, so now I'm demanding you remove whatever spell or jutsu that you've used on him!"

Naruto couldn't help giving a slight smirk and quirking an eyebrow. "A spell? Do you think of me as a witch, Sakura?"

"YOU ARE! How else can you make MY Sasuke-kun prefer YOU over ME?"

"Maybe because I don't chase him, paint myself up for him, stalk him, constantly throw myself at him, and view him for what he is, a boy who is beneath me," Naruto answered as she counted off with her fingers. "I don't like Sasuke, and I don't understand why you do."

"You have to be doing something though! Why would he choose a plain tomboy like you over someone beautiful and delicate like me?"

'Sasuke and Sakura deserve each other…' Naruto thought as she stared at the puffy girl that stood before her. 'Well, maybe not Sasuke… he's not THIS bad.'

Sakura's words though had elicited more than just a bored reaction from Naruto though. Within the girl, Kyuubi was FURIOUS.

'**Tear that girl apart, if she can even be called that!'** he howled at Naruto. **'Call my vessel plain or ugly after how much effort I've poured into this body, I think not!'**

"Sakura, are you quite done?" Naruto asked, still bored by Sakura's rants. She took the other girl's dumb stare as a sign to continue.

"I'm not interested in Sasuke; in fact, I'm not interested in any men right now!"

'**Remember the naked man in the hotel room?'** Kyuubi snickered gleefully as Naruto fought off a blush.

"Sasuke seems like he's trying to clue you in on how he wants space, that you're smothering him. Besides, Sasuke wants STRONG girls, not weak ones like you. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a solo mission that I must attend to." Pushing past the pink haired girl who was still sputtering angrily, Naruto quickly vacated the building.

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'This is the song that never ends; it just goes on and on my friends! Some people started singing it not knowi…'

'**KIT! Either shut up or activate that cursed seal and end my suffering! You've been singing that damned song for TWO WHOLE HOURS!'**

Naruto smiled triumphantly as she finally quit her mental singing, Kyuubi had been punished enough.

Right before her lay a small town, one that was named Unasu. She would begin both of her hunts here, mainly since it was where the jounin, Tsubaki, had last been seen.

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Mariko was on her own way out of the village, she just had to say good bye to everyone first, namely Kakashi.

"I'M GOING TO MISS YOU SO MUCH!" she howled as she caught her guy in a bone-crushing hug. "I promise I'll think of you everyday, even if I can't write, and that I'll be a good girl!"

"Ne, Mariko, you don't live that far out…" Kakashi began, only to be hushed by Mariko.

"We'll see each other again soon! And I promise that I'll do my best to make you proud!"

"I still don't see why you don't just join Konoha already; you wouldn't even have to be a ninja."

"Until next time my love!" Mariko called out as she hoisted up her pack and ran out the gates into the sunset, despite the fact that it wasn't even noon yet.

"Great," Kakashi murmured as he watched his girl run off. "Now she's getting genjutsu tips from Gai it seems… Maybe it's time for him to meet an unfortunate accident."

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The village seemed off when Naruto arrived in it, removing her mask long before anyone could possibly spot her.

The people on the street seemed very timid, looking around fearfully, jumping at the slightest shadow. Even the street children, who were usually very bold individuals when they weren't begging, seemed to be downtrodden.

'There's probably a gang here, or a bunch of bandits that are causing mischief. These people seem too beaten down though, like they're trying with everything they have to hold on… Their food supplies aren't good either,' she thought the last part as she passed one of the few stores that sold food and winced slightly at the tiny amount that they had, and how inflated the cost was. It didn't help that the next town was over a days walk by the road, at a civilian's pace at least.

'So that brings the list of things that I need to do here up from just finding information on the missing nin and Itachi's case to also include ridding this place of whatever group is oppressing them and getting them some food until more can be brought. Oh well, underworld groups usually have information networks anyway, maybe I'll find something.'

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"Lets check on this contact, father usually uses him for information from different villages, he might know something." Hinata handed a small slip of paper to Neji that held a single name and a series of numbers and letters.

Neji nodded, mainly because he hated to admit that he didn't know anything about this person or whatever the code on the paper was. Hinata caught on to him though.

"The name is the name that we call him by, but we're the only ones who know him by that name. The code is one that father has taught me that allows me the knowledge on how to contact him. It changes whenever he moves and will go blank when he dies."

Neji nodded once again, this time fully understanding the sheet's purpose.

"I will be more help once Gai-sensei is out of the hospital and we start doing missions again, specifically ones that go outside the village."

"What happened to him anyway?" Hinata inquired of her cousin as she continued sorting through still more ledgers, looking for other possible informants.

"Some sort of accident that involved a paint can felling on his head, and Kakashi-san screaming about him tainting his girlfriend." During the explanation, Neji wore a strange smirk.

"Why do I get the feeling that you were more than an innocent bystander, Neji-niisan?"

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Naruto made certain to duck her head down as she entered an inn in the town, doing what she could to remain unnoticed. That was a very hard thing to do, especially since long white hair was a rarity and she refused to risk giving herself away by doing a jutsu.

'Should have made Kyuubi turn my hair black or something before coming here,' she thought as she noticed a number of the men in the tavern area turn in their seats and stare at her as she made her way to the check in desk. About halfway there, a drunk smacked her butt. 'AND HE SHALL DIE FOR THAT!' Naruto mentally screamed, but restrained herself from actually killing the man. She only smashed his head against the table before throwing him to the floor instead.

"Feisty…" the man murmured before he was out like a light.

A quick glare around the inn was all it took to warn off some of the possible suitors, but not all. She would deal with them later.

"Hi," she said with a bright smile to the desk clerk, a girl who was maybe only two or three years older than Naruto. "Room for one please?"

"Alright," replied the girl, who returned the smile before opening her log book. "Room 209 on the second floor, it'll be three hundred ryou a night," she said as she handed Naruto a key. "And, a word of advice, lock your door at all times," she added in a whisper.

Pulling out some of the cash that was left over from her trip with Jiraiya, Naruto handed the girl enough for three nights. "I'll take your advice to heart." Turning to the staircase, she immediately climbed the stairs at an energetic pace and found her room to be at the end of the hallway on the left side.

Pushing her bag past the door, Naruto immediately turned and locked the door, after setting several traps that could incapacitate a person. She was back downstairs in less than a minute.

This time, she walked into the tavern area to sit at the bar, ordering a green tea and praying that a drunk with a loss jaw would come over looking for possible company. She didn't have to wait long for the flies to come.

The first to come was a man in maybe his mid-twenties that seemed to have an air to him that screamed "arrogant grunt". He didn't bother with saying anything, simply reached out and made a grab at Naruto's chest. He was turned away with a green tea pot smashed into his face and being assisted out by a bartender who was roaring with laughter.

The second guy was an oily old man who was sadly mistaken if he thought they would have anything in common. She had glared at him when he approached; he had hiccupped and scuttled away.

Number three was no better, except he was an equally oily forty year old that she wound up pouring her tea on before he got a hint that she wasn't interested.

Four was a little better; he had approached and asked if she was married or involved with someone. He had blushed and run off when she said "No."

Numbers five, six, and seven all busted also before she found what she was looking for in number eight.

Number eight was an average looking man in his late twenties who probably didn't drink much and had made the stupid mistake of doing just that before approaching her.

He began by asking her what she did for a living, but before Naruto could answer he blurted out that he ran a grocery store.

'Jackpot,' Naruto thought. "Really? I saw some grocery stores on my way into town, and they didn't look like they were in good shape. How is your's doing?"

"Awful!" the man replied as he began to sniff. "Ever since those damn Hanzatsu came to this town and took up residence here, they've forced their way into everything. People and businesses are forced to pay a very steep tax in order to avoid trouble with them. If you can't pay, then you are forced to work for them, as anything they ask of you. My own sister was forced into a brothel because she and her husband couldn't pay them."

"That does sound awful," Naruto admitted.

"You really shouldn't stay here or anywhere in town. The boss used to be a ninja and had a taste for young females, and he is known to force himself on the ones he likes, like that poor Mist girl, I think she called herself Tsubaki."

'OH GREAT! A missing nin, this isn't a hunt, it's a rescue! Kiri wanted to hire a hunter nin to take out the missing nin that kidnapped their nin.' "Who is he? Maybe I can contact his old village and they'll send some help."

"His name is Radon. He is from Kirigakure."

'Wonderful… Kirigakure isn't even willing to come after this guy themselves. Then again, they probably believe he would recognize any hunter nins that they would send after him.' "They aren't too far from here, why haven't they come?"

"Don't know," the man replied as he slumped onto the counter, alcohol finally taking a full effect on him. "You smell nice."

'He's been pretty helpful, maybe I should get him back to his home.' "You're drunk. Where do you live?" Naruto asked as she paid for her drink and hopped off of her barstool and hauled the man to his feet and helped him out of the door.

"Thata way!" he replied as he pointed off in a random direction. Luckily though, another of the bar's patrons walked out and pointed Naruto in the right direction. She uttered a quick thanks before dragging the inebriated man off in the direction of his home.

It was rather unsurprising to find that he lived in an apartment above his grocery store. What was slightly surprising was that when she got there a man came out to gather the man whose name she didn't even know.

'Must be his brother-in-law,' she thought as she helped haul him indoors.

"You know, he used to never go out like this and drink," said the new guy as he held the door open. "He always set his mind on the business and was the one who helped others home."

"He must have changed when the Hanzatsu came, didn't he?" Naruto asked as she sat the first man onto the couch as the other closed the door.

"Yeah, a lot of people changed, many for the better, but many for the worse also. Greed is obvious anymore, but some many have opened their homes to others, much like Grei here. My wife and I had lost everything, and then he offered to let us move in. Even after my wife, his sister, was taken away by those bandits he let me stay at no cost."

"Things like this happen in extreme times; you got lucky it would seem though." Naruto couldn't help but feel slightly reminded of Iruka.

The man's head snapped at her, and despite her best attempt to keep her face blank, as though she was just trying to be comforting, he seemed to see through her.

"You've lived through this sort of situation, haven't you? But you weren't as lucky I have been, were you?"

"Is there a stream or a good fishing place around here? A lot of the people out there look like they need a meal really badly."

"I'm sorry; I didn't realize you didn't want to talk about it. Yes, there is a lake about three miles to the south of the village, but the way is guarded rather jealously by the men of the Hanzatsu. Don't worry about that right now though, you either need to get back to the inn or stay here tonight because they will find out about you soon enough, and no one is allowed to leave the village anymore, that's why food is in such high demand. You need to avoid those guys at all cost though, they aren't known for their kindness, especially to pretty young girls."

"So I've heard…" Naruto replied, but trailed off as a noise came to her ears, footsteps. Jumping back slightly, she did a quick pat and found her disguised weapons in place.

"What's wro…"

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

"We know you're in there!" Came a shout from the other side of the door. "Surrender the woman this moment!"

'Well, this will probably save me the question of where the Hanzatsu base is…'


	24. No Telling

Saria: I CAN BREATH! (is prancing around)

SA: Stop it…

Tori: Don't be such a sour puss!

Zas: I don't know which is worse, Saria while sick or Saria right after being sick…

Tori: Now don't you start. She's not that (actually looks at Saria) bad…

SA: She's evil.

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Heading over to the door, she prepared to open the door and face the thugs that were on the other.

"Wait," whispered the man as her hand reached for the knob. "We should try to hide you first! Believe me, I've seen some of the girls that they've taken away, they're scarred for life from what these men do!"

Folding her arms in front of her, Naruto shot a look around the flat. "Alright then, but where would you have me hide? I wouldn't put it past these guys to tear this place apart looking for a woman, they are just that type."

Moving over to his still sleeping brother-in-law, he began to shake Grei. "Wake up!" he hissed as Grei's eyes opened sleepily. "Is there a hiding place here or another way out?" he demanded.

Grei blinked then turned his head away from the man.

"The Hanzatsu are here and they want to take that girl that brought you home away! Is there anyway to get her away from here?"

"If there was a way for a normal person to escape, don't you think I would have had my sister use it?" Grei demanded angrily, despite his drunkenness. "I couldn't do anything for Hikari, Ash, and I'm sorrier than you could ever imagine!"

"That girl that Radon kidnapped, are you sure that her name is Tsubaki?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah, she said that she was a jounin from Kirigakure. We were certain that she would be able to stop Radon, but she simply got caught and beaten by him," Ash replied.

"Ok," Naruto replied as she pulled out a single kunai and handed it to Ash who stared at her in shock. "Use that to defend yourself if things get bad." Pulling out several senbon, she threaded them into her hair so that she could hopefully keep them with her.

"I'll be back soon," she said as she once more grabbed the door knob, the men on the other side sounding very impatient. "And hopefully, I will have Radon's head as well."

Pushing open the door, she turned to face the men of the Hanzatsu.

There were only three of them, and Naruto knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she wouldn't even have to try if she took them on.

The first guy was tall and muscle bound with black hair and eyes. He wore a basic pair of gi pants and a shirt. Everything about him screamed "I'm a mindless grunt!"

The second guy in the group was shorter, still muscle bound though and had a faint spark of intelligence in his eyes. She could feel him mentally undressing her as she stepped out of Grei's flat.

The last member of their party was a scar riddled man who carried a pike on his back. He was taller than number two, but shorter than number one and didn't seem interested at all in her, which she was thankful for.

"So, you're the girl that showed up today in town, eh?" asked the second man as he looked her up and down with a hint of perversion. "Pretty little thing. Now you come with us and do exactly as you're told and I can almost guarantee that you'll be treated nicely! Heh heh heh."

Naruto forced most of her face into an expression of faint shock even as her eyes narrowed at that one guy. She needed to make them think she was normal or else things would likely get difficult.

"What's your name, doll?"

"It's Uzuta Shale, and does your mommy know that you use such derogatory terms?" Naruto quipped back, supplying the false name that Sandaime had given her for the exams.

A hand snapped forward as though to smack her, but stopped short of her face.

"You need to learn respect and how to control that pretty little mouth, Shale-_chan_. You are lucky though that our great leader Radon heard that you were a beauty and wanted to see you himself or else I would have hurt your pretty face. Now you can either come quietly with us or we can make this difficult."

"Hold your horses," Naruto shot back. "I want your word that no harm will be brought to the people that reside within these walls if I do come."

"Of course, Shale-_chan_, our business here will be over once we remove you from here."

Naruto nodded as she stepped away from the door and let herself be led out to the streets where the three men promptly surrounded her as they continued. All down the street, Naruto noticed the few people who were out were staring at their procession, as well as a number of people who peeked out of windows at them. The faces were mostly of helpless discouragement and when they looked at her, there was pity on so many faces. One face though held some glee, and Naruto recognized him as the drunk from the bar who had smacked her butt.

'I see why Ash said that this has brought out the dark side in so many people,' Naruto thought as she glared hotly at the man who chose that moment to shrink away. 'He couldn't have me so he sold me out most likely.'

The walk continued out of the town and onto a well worn path that was almost like a street. The walk continued for almost five more minutes before they finally reached a mansion of some sort. All around it there were men, and a few women, standing guard or doing various chores. Her "escorts" paid none of the people any mind as they continued towards the door of the mansion which swung open heavily.

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Mariko smiled happily as headed toward the Rice Country, toward the home of several of her friends, mainly Sasame and the Fugaku clan.

'It's been such a long time since I last saw them,' she thought as she merrily bounced off another branch. 'They helped hide me when I first ran from Iwagakure, set me up with my current house, and are ninja themselves, and NOT loyal to any one village. I'm certain that they'll help!'

Bounding to another branch as she continued her trek, Mariko pulled out a photo of her and Kakashi, one of the few where he didn't have that book of his out. He was staring right at her, probably because she had just performed Sexy-no-jutsu, a technique she and Naruto had made to punish perverts and give Mariko's boyfriend a treat (though at the time Naruto didn't know that Kakashi was Mariko's boyfriend.)

"I shall return soon!" she crowed to the sky as she gave the photo a hug.

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"Here," said a girl who handed Naruto a simple dark blue dress. The reason for it was that the men who had escorted her to the estate wished for her to dress up before she was presented to Radon.

'Great,' Naruto thought as she took the dress and went behind a screen to change. 'I bet those guys are peeping at me right now.'

Problems arose when she realized that she still had her weapons and scrolls all tied to her legs and riddled throughout her outfit. Hiding her hands in the material of the dress, she made a few short hand signs and created a genjutsu, though fully aware of the risk.

'None of those guys were ninja,' she assured herself as she pulled untied a number of her holsters and hid them in the many pockets of her uniform, leaving a few still attached though.

Pulling on the blue dress, she found herself breathing a sigh in relief that it was thankfully a loss fit and she was able to hide some of her weapons. Pulling out one needle though, she used a bit of glue to stick it to the roof of her mouth, just in case.

She folded her original clothes then, and cast yet another genjutsu, this one to make them unnoticeable to others so no one stumble across her weapons before sticking the small bundle in a corner.

Marching back out from behind the screened off area, she noticed a number of other women in the room, all either dressed in dresses or yukata. Most of them were young and attractive women, but there were a few older women, and even a few young girls. All of them seemed to be slightly frightened at least.

"Is there a woman named Tsubaki here?" she asked a random girl who was closet to her. The child nodded quietly. "Where is she?" This time the child pointed at one of the women who had dark blond hair and was wearing a yukata. "Thank you," said Naruto quietly, offering the little girl a faint smile which was timidly returned.

"Are you Tsubaki?" Naruto asked the woman pointed out to her, who in turn jumped and spun around, fight still obvious in her eyes. Seeing Naruto though, she calmed slightly.

"Yes I was, here I'm known as Koneko. Are you the new girl here?" she asked quietly as she looked Naruto up and down.

"Probably, what's going on?" Naruto asked, even though she had a pretty good idea.

"Radon, the guy who runs this place, each night he likes to choose a girl that he will 'spend the night with'." Tsubaki stated ruefully. "Since you're new here, I'll explain it. When you are new here, you always come to this room to prepare for the night for the first week you are here, after that; you are assigned to a division. If you are assigned to Radon's personal envoy, you continue to come here and are given a yukata to wear and only he is allowed to touch you unless he gives special permission. He also assigns you a new name. If you are assigned to the regular harem, then you are fair game to all at any time."

"What about those that are obviously too young or too old?" Naruto demanded, glancing around at the young girls and older women.

"Usually they are assigned to either cooking or cleaning staff," Tsubaki answered, as the door suddenly swung open and a man's voice ordered all the women out.

Once again Naruto found herself as part of a precession, this one where a group of women were herded down a hall as various people pulled away the younger girls and the older women. At first Naruto moved to protest, but remembered that they wouldn't be harmed and put a cap on it.

Several minutes later, they entered a hall and were ordered to line up single file before a man that sported a beard and mustache with light brown hair who wore a smirk. Naruto could practically see him undressing each girl in turn, his gaze lingering on a few of them longer than others.

She stood at the end of the line, well aware that the three men who had brought her here were behind her, eagerly awaiting for whatever reward Radon may give to them.

Radon's eyes finally found her at the end of the line, her white hair making her stand out slightly against the other women. He didn't bother to even acknowledge the men behind her.

"Hello there and what we have here?" Radon asked as he stepped toward her, his eyes traveling up and down her body several times.

"The girl that showed up in town today, Radon sir! We brought her here for your inspection. I think she said her name was Shale."

"Shale, eh?" Radon asked, as he stood before her. "It has been a while since I saw a new face here." Reaching up, he grabbed her chin firmly and turned her head slightly as he studied her face, absently running his rough fingers over her smooth cheeks. Leaning in slightly, he seemed to breathe in her scent before backing away with a pleased smile on his face. "You smell like lilies, the death flower… Yes, your name shall be Yuri; it suits you much better than Shale did."

Stepping back, he glanced down the lines before his eyes once again fell on Tsubaki.

"Tonight, I want Koneko and Yuri as my escorts." Turning to the men that had brought "Yuri" in, he said, "And as your rewards for bring me such a fine piece, each of you may chose one girl from my personal envoy as your escort tonight."

Naruto could almost feel the way each of the men grinned at the reward.

"Now, I shall leave you to choose while I go prepare for a night with my kitten and my lily. Koneko, Yuri," Radon turned and strode out of the room, Tsubaki following close behind with Naruto right behind her. Glancing back, Naruto saw the three men moving between each of the remaining girls, only eight girls now she noticed. Each man seemed to be looking for the prettiest face in the small troop.

'Hold on,' thought Naruto as she glanced out a random window. 'Why is he choosing escorts right now instead of later on? It's just barely past noon!'

Radon stopped in front of a door moments later and pushed it open. Inside were several of the older and younger women from before, and they seemed to have been waiting for them.

"Clean these two up for tonight, and have them dressed in the best kimonos you can find." He announced to the room. A shiver of excitement seemed to travel down his back as he turned back to face Tsubaki and Naruto.

"Tonight, the mayor of Unasu has agreed to sign the town over to me, permanently, in exchange for me allowing for food to be brought to the town without such high taxes, so naturally, this shall truly be a festive evening! Both of you had better be on your best behavior." Reaching out with his hands, he stroked the side of both women's faces. "I want to be the jealousy of every man tonight."

Sliding behind both women, he gave a slight push to get them both in through the door before shutting it behind them.

Turning back to face the women and girls that were in the room with them, Naruto noticed that each had immediately gone about to begin preparing them. There were girls that were drawing baths for them while others went through the closet looking for kimonos that would suit them and still others began going through the make up. Beside her, Tsubaki sighed.

"I had hoped that this day wouldn't come," she murmured as she moved towards a chair and sat down. Following her, Naruto sat in a chair that faced her.

"If he becomes the leader of this village, no ninja village will be able to attack him without good cause, and they can't be based on his previous crimes unless someone was already assigned to go after him and didn't get the revoked order," Naruto warned. "I heard that you are a kunoichi, can't you try to stop him?"

Tsubaki slowly shook her head. "No, my talent lies in swordsmanship, and I barely made jounin. I have no weapons here, and even if I did he has sealed off my chakra."

"Too bad really," said an older woman who was looking through possible make up. "That man can do whatever he wants with this village if he gains ownership. After tonight, he could even make us a ninja village and no one could protest, not even Konoha."

"And there in lies the loophole," Naruto stated icily. "If a ninja could kill him tonight, they would be killing a missing nin since he couldn't be recognized as the leader of this village until tomorrow morning."

"I won't be of any help the way that I am," Tsubaki replied angrily. "Don't you think that I have tried to kill him by now?"

"I wasn't talking about you," Naruto interjected as she calmly pulled out a senbon. "My name is Naruto, and I'm a hunter nin from Konoha who was hired to rescue you, and that would entail that part of my mission is now to kill Radon."

Handing the senbon to the gaping older woman, she ordered quietly, "When you put Tsubaki's hair up, use this needle, and make sure to tell her where it is. We can't have you walking around unarmed now, can we Tsubaki? Oh, and leave my hair down. No speaking of this to anyone."


	25. Dance

Tori: Kitty kitty kitty! (snuggles a gray and white kitten)

Zas: (sweatdrop)

SA: (sweatdrop)

Saria: KITTEN! (grabs a jug of milk from the fridge) Kitties love MILK!

Zas: Why did you let her bring home a stray cat?

SA: Because she promised to write a chapter if I did…

Saria: (hugs the kitten) And before I start, let me explain Naruto's eyes. Kyuubi has red eyes, Naruto had blue eyes. When you mix blue and red you get purple!

The Kitten: Purrr…

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In the "preparation" room, Tsubaki and Naruto were almost ready for the night. They had started out with both of them getting baths, and these included perfumed soap. Naruto had blushed profusely throughout the bath, mainly because the weapons she had snuck in were discovered and she had to temporarily remove them. Of course, it could have also been that she was naked…

The kimonos that were selected for them went well with the individual beauty of the two; Tsubaki's kimono was a pink silk that had birds and flowers in various shades of red and orange all over it with a bright red obi. The make up that was chosen was for her eyes and cheeks to have a faint pinkish haze to them, but nothing real drastic. Her hair was done up with the senbon needle and several other ornaments so it would stay up when the senbon was removed.

Naruto's kimono was a sharp contrast to Tsubaki's in that it was a very faint almost periwinkle in color with hints of grey and lilac and a lilac obi, in Naruto's opinion it went well with her Kyuubi enhanced coloring. The make up that she had also contrasted sharply with that of Tsubaki, her eyes were darkly enhanced with charcoal eyeliner and lilac eye shadow to bring out the color of her purpled eyes, but aside from some lip shine she was otherwise left without make up. Her hair was thankfully down as she had requested, it seemed to compliment the kimono better that way anyway as the women told her.

As she finished mentally prepping herself for the night, and strapping her weapons back in place, knowing that most likely she may be enduring advances from many men, and most likely Radon's advances before the night ended when she and Tsubaki would be alone with him, she noticed that Tsubaki was smiling.

Tsubaki noticed Naruto was gazing at her but she didn't seem to care.

"So, Kirigakure really hired you to take me back, huh?" she asked, as her hand slightly fingered the disguised senbon in her hair. "After tonight, it'll all be over!"

"Was it really that bad here?" Naruto queried, curiosity getting the better of her.

"Yes, Radon and his men all believe themselves to be every woman's dream man, and if they refuse them, that's just being shy. They also have insatiable sexual appetites. Each woman here, besides you and the girls and older woman here, has been forced into bed at least three times now. Those in the regular harem probably have to service a man at least once a day."

'I think that I already know where to aim for first,' Naruto thought, and internally she could feel Kyuubi wince before chuckling.

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Food had arrived during the afternoon, and Naruto knew enough about customs to know that she was expected to not eat during the celebration tonight, so she made sure to eat as much as she could deem appropriate. She would need to be able to perform her work anyway and she would need a little muscle at least.

Radon reappeared at five-thirty, dressed in traditional black robes. His hair looked like he had dumped a lot of oil on it and his beard and mustache had been trimmed. He looked disgusting in Naruto's opinion.

It took all of Naruto's willpower to not start swearing as he looked both Tsubaki and her up and down, eyeing them as though they were cuts of meat. The glint in his eyes seemed to get worse and worse every second.

"Koneko, Yuri, you both look lovely." Glancing back into the room where the preparations had taken place, he murmured a quick, "Good job," before signaling for Tsubaki and Naruto to follow him.

'This is already proving to be my most strange mission yet…' Naruto thought as she followed Tsubaki and "The Bastard" down the hall. 'How much stranger can this mission get?'

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About three hours had passed since the evening had begun. Outside the sun had already set, and Naruto was willing to bet that the villagers would soon be turning in if they hadn't already. The dignitaries of the town were looking downtrodden as around them the thieves and bandits, but soon-to-be rulers of their town partied.

The dignitaries all wore formal kimonos and presented themselves in as dignified a manner as they could, minding their manners to an extent that seemed forced. Naruto really found that she couldn't blame them on that though. She also couldn't help but notice that none of them brought a female companion.

The bandits, with the exception of Radon, on the other hand, were wearing their regular clothes and drinking, a lot. Each of them had a female companion of some sort, whether they were female members of the gang or unfortunate girls from the harem. The only exceptions were the three men who had brought her in; their female companions were the only other women in kimonos, though they weren't as rich or extravagant as her and Tsubaki's.

Turning her attention back to Radon, she knew that he was disgustingly sober, despite her and Tsubaki's attempts to insure that his cup remained full; refilling it inconspicuously after each sip he took. He smiled as he overlooked the "festivities" before he noticed her gaze. The smirk he gave her was one that she just plain did NOT like.

Tearing her eyes away once again, she looked out onto the sea of bodies, noticing the quickly approaching form of the soon to be former leader of Unasu immediately.

"What do you want?" Radon demanded gruffly of the man.

"I wish to simply get this over with," the man replied in a cold manner.

"Without even a dance first, Katai? Please, I must insist that you honor us with a dance first!"

"I didn't bring my wife here," replied Katai. Naruto felt she didn't even need to know the reasoning behind that.

"Well, I do believe that you will find women in abundance here. Comon, choose one already. In fact, I must insist that you choose one of my girls. This one is Koneko," he said with a gesture toward Tsubaki, "and this is Yuri," this time the gesture was toward Naruto.

Katai simply gave a polite nod to Tsubaki, but his eyes seemed to spark with recognition when his gaze turned to Naruto.

"Enchanting, aren't they?" Radon whispered as his fingers crept up and gently cupped Naruto's chin. "This one especially seems to have something special about her. So, what are you waiting for? I want that dance."

Stepping away from Radon, Naruto placed her hand gently on Katai's and whispered a gentle, "It's really ok."

Katai hesitated for a few moments longer before wrapping his fingers gently around her hand and heading down to the dance floor. Behind them, Naruto could hear Radon grabbing Tsubaki's hand and leading her down as well.

On the dance floor, Katai barely touched her, barely even looked at her.

'Finally, a gentleman!' Naruto thought.

"Are you that girl who was brought here earlier, the one that Ash and Grei are talking about?"

"I might be," Naruto replied. "Why do you ask?"

"They told me about you, and I have not seen any girls in this town that look like you. How are you faring here?"

Naruto eyed Radon, who had just brought Tsubaki out onto the dance floor with him. Several others were also joining in the dance.

"I'm fine right now; no one has touched me in that regard. The younger girls and elder women are in decent shape, but I'm willing to bet that a number of the girls who are in the harem are not in such good shape. Tell me though, how are Ash and Grei?"

"Both of them are fine, mostly. Grei is kicking himself because he seems to think that he is responsible for your capture. Ash seems confident in your ability to defend yourself though."

Naruto smiled at that comment. "Tell me, is Ash's wife here?"

"Hikari?" Katai glanced around the room before nodding toward a woman with black hair who would have been very pretty if she didn't look so beaten. The way she held herself though let them know that she was far from broken.

"I'll do my best to look out for her," Naruto murmured to the man who gave her a thankful look.

"What about you?" the man asked as the dance continued.

Naruto smiled. "I have looked after myself plenty of times in the past. Besides, do you honestly think either Kiri or Konoha are going to sit for this? As long as he is struck down before the sunrises tomorrow, it'll be as though he never took power here."

"But who would be able to do that?" Katai asked. "No shinobi have shown up yet, and no one has been able to send word to the villages."

"Sometimes, all we can do is hope for the best, and take action ourselves," Naruto replied, careful of her words since Radon was so close now.

"Switch partners," came Radon's gruff voice, and Naruto felt his hand grab at her waist and pull her back slightly, Tsubaki switching places with her.

Dancing with Katai had been a slow, graceful, and extremely conservative. Dancing with Radon proved to be like trying to shove an elephant through a mouse hole. His hands wandered relentlessly, his feet stepped on hers multiple times, and he seemed to pay too much attention to trying to look as though he weren't a bad dancer.

Naruto admitted though, after a few minutes and observing several other people, that he wasn't as bad as many of his men. Needless to say that Radon ended the dancing soon after.

Immediately after ending the dancing, the documents that signed over the town to Radon and the Hanzatsu were produced. At that point, Katai grew a bit of a backbone.

"If I sign these, will you allow us to once again trade with other towns?"

Radon laughed. "Of course, but to insure that the men come back, they must leave their families here in town."

"Will you return the wives and daughters and sisters that you have taken from us?"

"Once their debts have been repaid," Radon replied, his smirk growing slightly.

"Will you release them?" Katai asked, gesturing toward Naruto and Tsubaki.

"No."

"But they owe you nothing!"

"They, and the other girls in my personal harem, are mine and will remain so as my prizes." Reaching up, he brushed a hand over Tsubaki's face, who narrowed her eyes significantly.

Naruto grabbed her hand when she noticed the woman raising her arm, her obvious intent being to grab the senbon.

"Don't," Naruto whispered to her. "Too many possible casualties right now. We need them to be slightly drunker, and the dignitaries to be gone so they can avoid blame."

Thankfully Tsubaki understood and didn't act out again.

A significant look at Katai was all it took to end his arguments, though he did scowl deeply as he finally signed the documents. Afterwards, Katai and the dignitaries of Unasu were escorted out of the house.

Naruto found that after the men were gone, any formality or feigned gentility was eliminated fast. All around her men began to drink more than before, their vague comments quickly losing rationality, their gestures becoming obscene.

Radon saw fit at that point to also start drinking, heavily. Before, Tsubaki and she had only added maybe half of the amount in his cup. Now, he drained the thing almost every other sip, but they made sure to keep refilling the cup discreetly.

"Heh heh. I love winning!" Radon's exclamation was punctuated as he thrust his cup into the air. "From now on, life shall be leisurely for me, and I can have whatever, or whoever I want." Once again, he looked Tsubaki and Naruto up and down, this time at a lecherous pace.

Grabbing a random cup that had liquor in it, Naruto easily shoved it into Radon's grip.

'It'll be easier to wipe these people out if they're all drunk,' she thought, nodding at Tsubaki, who in turn nodded at a hookah. Naruto nodded slightly and Tsubaki loosened the release nozzle on the hookah and situated the pipe so that a slight twist was all it would take to make it release constantly. She began to help Naruto feed Radon constant drinks afterwards.

Not even twenty minutes later, he stood, a little wobbly on his feet, and beckoned to them. Before following, Tsubaki gave the hookah one last twist.

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Hinata handed Neji the scroll where she had written the request for information.

"Are you sure about where this man can be located, Hinata-sama?"

Hinata scowled slightly at Neji's use of –sama. "Yes Neji, I'm certain. Father says that he is very reliable also. Oh, and good luck with your mission!"

Behind them, Gai and Lee looked like they were having a contest to see who could hold their breath the longest. He had been released from the hospital only an hour ago. Hinata was willing to bet that the medics were going to throw a fit when they found out.

"Looks like we lucked out that Gai-sensei got my team an escort mission that passes right by Unasu, right cousin?"

At this, Hinata smiled brightly. They both knew that she liked it when he referred to her as that.

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A tongue licked Naruto's cheek in a supposedly "seductive" manner as Naruto did her best to bite down on her revulsion. She stood with Radon in front of a window with the moonlight pouring in. It might have been romantic, if it had been just about ANYONE else.

"Silver and moonlight," murmured Radon as his hands quested up and down her THANKFULLY still clothed body.

'Even that shark-like guy that I ran into at that hotel, I think he was called Kisame, would be a more appealing person right now…' thought Naruto as Radon licked her cheek again before moving his mouth towards hers.

'I'M GONNA HURL!'

'**Why not try to focus on someone else right now, kit?'**

'Like who?' Naruto challenged, somewhat relieved that Kyuubi could speak to her.

'**Why not something… like… THIS!'**

'Oh no, not a genjutsu!' Naruto mentally screamed, watching as Radon whose mouth was approaching hers in slow motion suddenly morphed into… 'Itachi?'

She couldn't stop herself from reacting as his lips met hers, and despite knowing that this was just a genjutsu, this fake Itachi was an excellent kisser. His lips met hers softly and didn't try to encompass her mouth, but lulled her into playing with his. The kiss quickly became deeper, more sensual, before both parties broke apart, and the illusion of Itachi was gone.

'Kyuubi, you need a hobby,' Naruto thought angrily as Radon's fingers snuck up and began to undo the bindings of her kimono.

'**I have one!'** Kyuubi responded with a laugh.

Looking toward the bed in the room, Naruto saw Tsubaki who raised an eyebrow, asking if it was time yet. She quickly nodded her head in the positive.

Her obi was off, and Naruto was determined that that was as far as he was going to get. Reaching out, she grabbed a handful of Radon's own kimono and began to pull at the knots. Thankfully, the inebriated man did not seem to care. Tsubaki struck when his arms were stuck in his sleeves.

Naruto shoved Radon backwards, throwing him onto the bed, the senbon that was shoved into his neck effectively silencing him. Reaching down into the opening of her kimono, Naruto withdrew a kunai and a quick slash later was all it took.

Naruto used a pillowcase to wrap the severed head of Radon before running after Tsubaki into the hall. She handed a kunai to Tsubaki and as they ran down the darkened halls toward the main hall, Naruto made sure to knock on the doors that Tsubaki pointed out to her, which was the signal they had worked out with the women that had helped to prepare them that would signal the women that it was time to leave. Behind them, Naruto could hear doors being opened and soft voices.

Arriving in the main hall, they found that the hookah had begun to do its job; all the men and women were in a drug-induced stupor. Nodding to Tsubaki, once again the two began to work.

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When Neji arrived in Unasu, it was almost noon. He had managed to convince Gai that he needed to stop and pick up some supplies, at the request of the Hyuuga main family.

He was surprised at the waist high pile of fish that was in the center of the street, even more so by the various people who seemed to be celebrating something. Various people were gathered in the street, laughing, crying, and hugging. He also didn't fail to notice a number of men who were chained to various poles along the street.

"Excuse me," he said to one pair, a pretty young woman with black hair and a young man. "What is going on here?"

"The Hanztsu were defeated just last night. This is a celebration!" the man replied.

"Maybe you should join us today," added the woman.

"No, I'm just here to deliver a message to someone, and then I need to leave immediately."

The man smiled in a friendly way. "Well, just so you know, my name is Ash, and this is my wife Hikari."

"I'm Neji, and I'm looking for a man named Grei."


	26. Time and Explanations

SA: …

Tori: Say it!

SA: …

Tori: Say it!

SA: …

Tori: SAY IT!

Zas: What's going on?

Saria: I… don't know!

Tori: SA-chan and I had a bet, mainly on how you'd do on that Aircraft Systems and Components test! I bet that you'd get above an 85!

Saria: THERE WAS A TEST TODAY?!? WHO WON?

SA: (points at Tori miserably) She did… You got an 88.

Zas: You didn't remember that test? Why not? It was a scantron!

Saria: You mean in my 8AM class? I thought that was coloring time!

SA: So… you completed the test by filling out the blocks… AT RANDOM?!

Saria: (blushes) Thank god for my good luck!

Tori: SAY IT!!

SA: … I… like… (grimaces) kittens…

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Six months had passed since Naruto had gone on the mission to rescue Tsubaki and had killed Radon. Since then, a number of things had happened. The first was that Grei and his family found out that Naruto was the girl he had met at the bar, and was also the one who had killed Radon. When they finally explained that they were looking for anyone, inside and outside of Konoha who would brag of killing a clan there, he was more than eager to help.

The second thing that happened, as surprising as it was, was that Naruto was promoted to chuunin. Naruto had been certain that her reaction to seeing her undergarments displayed at the finals would make her unable to advance. She was happy to be wrong.

The third thing was that they told Tsunade and Jiraiya about the mission. Jiraiya's jaw had hit the floor. Tsunade threw several things, including her desk and Jiraiya, out of a window screaming about arrogant Uchiha and how they always needed to be the center of everything and do everything their way. The assistance of both proved to be invaluable though since Tsunade was able to assign them missions that passed by information gathering areas.

Mariko also returned to the village to report success in getting some of her old allies, including the Fuuma clan, to forward information to them. The Fuuma apparently, had already sent spies into various countries and organizations. No links had been found yet.

Finally, Naruto and Hinata both had their thirteenth birthdays. Naruto's birthday party involved a cake and sneaking out into the forest with it. Surprisingly though, a number of people did show up for this, amongst them were Hinata, Neji, Sasuke, Iruka, Jiraiya (who yelled continuously when Naruto convinced everyone except Iruka to call him ero-sennin), Tsunade (who rolled on the ground laughing at Jiraiya's "pet name" until Naruto dubbed her "obaa-chan"), Shizune (who evacuated everyone except Naruto during the rants of the two sannin), Konohamaru and his friends, Mariko, and Kakashi, who Mariko dragged along.

Hinata's party though, on December 27, was a much grander affair at the Hyuuga estate. The entirety of the Hyuuga clan was there, Naruto was proud to be invited also. Her gift to Hinata though had been different. She had always known how her friend like snow and always wanted to see it, but Fire country never really saw snow, ever. Until that day.

Naruto had searched long and hard for a jutsu that could do something like cause snow, and while on one of her hunts, she had gotten lucky. The jutsu was difficult, called for a lot of chakra, and was considered to be at least an A-class level jutsu. In other words, Naruto ate it up.

The party was scheduled to start at noon and would last well into the evening. That was why Naruto stood on top of the Hokage monument at eleven that morning, wearing a white kimono with an oleander pattern on it, and was quickly doing a long chain of hand seals. As this happened, people all over Konoha began to notice the steady but rapidly plummeting temperature, and panic broke lose when the first flakes of snow actually fell.

Grinning mischievously, Naruto quickly unfurled her banner that she had made several days ago and quickly, but firmly, tied it in place before high tailing it off the mountain and towards the Hyuuga estate.

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Hinata, needless to say, was ecstatic at her gift, as were most of the children and adults. Even the Hyuuga elders, who usually had sticks shoved really high up in their asses, loved the snow, though it seemed to lack any true monetary value.

The children in the village also loved the snow and asked when she would do it again.

The village council yelled continuously at her the next day about the "hazards" of snow while Tsunade yelled at her for creating a birthday banner and placing it over where the beginnings of her face were on the Hokage monument.

The supposed hazards were that so many people believed that they were either under attack, or in the cases of some fanatics, that the gods were angered by something and descending from heaven to unleash their wrath upon the world. About two-thirds of the council and Tsunade roared with laughter about that last part.

In the end, Naruto got off with a warning and orders that if she ever were to want to do that again, she was going to need to submit the proper paperwork at least a week in advance.

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Another year passed quickly. Naruto began to interact more with the people that were her age seeing as most of them now knew that she was a ninja. Her closest friends remained to be Hinata, Neji, and Mariko.

Neji and Hinata continued with trying to gather information, but it was slow at best. They had managed to rule out the possibility of other clans in Iwagakure and Kumogakure though, which was a good thing.

Sakura continued to chase Sasuke and tried to convince Ino that Naruto was a witch that was out to win Sasuke.

Ino, thankfully, had stopped pursuing Sasuke and thought Sakura was just being stupid. She and Naruto made fast friends, though it became obvious very quickly that unlike Ino, Naruto despised shopping unless she absolutely HAD to. Tenten joined them sometimes.

Naruto and Gaara kept in touch as pen pals. She stopped by in Suna several times between her missions and caught up with him.

Kiba tried to hit on several of the girls, including Naruto and Hinata. Naruto turned him down; Neji prevented him from ever asking Hinata for a date ever again.

Shikamaru figured Naruto out, but found it was "too troublesome" to tell anyone.

Birthdays came around again; Naruto had another good birthday, and popped out another snow day for Hinata's.

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Sasuke groaned as he tread through Konoha, fully aware of the fact that Sakura is tailing him for some reason or another. Kakashi had given them the day off and Sakura had asked him again and again to go out with her. He turned her down each time but she was persistent. The one time he dared to ask why she kept trying, she would have put Gai to shame had he been present when she declared, "TO PROVE THAT LOVE IS STRONGER THAN SORCERY!"

For some reason or another, Sakura had become convinced that Naruto was a witch of some sort. That belief had only become more intense when the girl had used the jutsu to cause the snow for Hyuuga Hinata's birthday.

In his quest though to find out all he could about Naruto though; he had nothing. There were no files anywhere, no records of any sorts. He couldn't find any Uzumaki clan, or family, or a single person who had ever had the name Uzumaki other than Naruto. The record stated her birth date, that she had attended the ninja academy, and that she was now a chuunin. Nothing else could be found, not even on the active shinobi lists that were available in the shinobi library.

"Sakura," he called behind him, still deep in thought. "I've been checking all sorts of records for Naruto, and she is listed, but there are no specifications at all. Not even the scrolls in the library say anything on her. How can that be?"

'Does Sasuke-kun just enjoy the mystery surrounding Naruto? That could explain a lot…' "Sasuke-kun, when someone is unlisted in the shinobi library, it is usually for good reason. Various people who wouldn't be listed are department heads, their children, kage children, and those who work in Black Ops such as ANBU and Hunter divisions. I seriously doubt that Naruto could surpass you Sasuke-kun and be one of those!"

"How else would you explain how she is unlisted in the records then?" Sasuke felt his eyebrow twitch at the girl's idiotic comment.

"Well, Naruto is an orphan, I know that for certain. Maybe she is the daughter of an agent or a deceased department head and her last name was changed to protect her?" Sakura didn't even want to entertain the notion that Naruto just MIGHT be better than Sasuke at something. "That could explain why she disappeared from the Academy also, because she needed to disappear for her own protection!"

"When did this happen?" Sasuke kicked himself for not noticing the pattern that he slowly was starting to see.

"When we were about eight, Sasuke-kun. I still remember that you were in the hospital and didn't show up at the Academy for several days. After you returned, we noticed that Naruto was missing as well, but we all thought that she had decided to pursue a different career." 'Why is this so interesting to him?' Sakura mentally raged.

'She left the Academy at about the same time that my clan was destroyed,' Sasuke thought, and he felt as though the pieces were slowly falling in place. 'Naruto isn't listed, because she must have been involved in some way or another and they didn't want her getting hurt or discovered! She was secretly removed, but continued training so she could defend herself, which has to be it!'

Rage, white hot rage began to course through his body at that moment. They had taken a girl who had no clan and trained her privately for years, whereas he was left to the Academy. They had denied HIM training in favor of HER, and he was the one who needed it, HE was the avenger!

'They're holding me back,' he thought as he darkly surveyed the village. 'They're providing training to a useless girl and leaving me behind. Well no more.' He had been facing mounting frustrations over the past few months, trying to figure out what Naruto did, why she wasn't listed as a regular shinobi, and now this was his conclusion.

The seal on his shoulder tingled slightly, and for the first time in months, Sasuke remembered the weird guy at the Chuunin Exams.

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Naruto stared at the three scrolls that were addressed to her from Sandaime. So far, only one of the scrolls would open, and Naruto was getting annoyed.

'I need some help here,' she thought as she quietly fingered one of the two scrolls that wouldn't open. 'At this point, not only do I need to carry out the mission to find the true murderer of the Uchiha and prove Itachi's innocence, but I still need to find some way to save Sasuke and myself from these seals that Orochimaru gave us, and save Kyuubi.'

A faint twinge traveled along Naruto's shoulder, starting from where the cursed seal was located.

'At this point, I don't think I have anymore options on what needs to be done for the sake of Sasuke, Kyuubi, and myself,' thought the girl as she got up and grabbed her keys. 'I need to see Orochimaru's original notes on these seals so I can figure out a way to release them, or at least counteract them.'

Sighing, she jumped off of her bed and headed for the door. She hadn't eaten all day, and she felt as though she was going to need to eat something, especially considering how she was going to have to deal with this.

'Eating some food so I can go to the Hokage, get hammered, and trick her into letting me do a long term mission… I bet I'm going to throw up at least once in the next few hours,' Naruto thought as she pulled on a blue jacket that Hinata had gotten her for her fourteenth birthday and grabbed a back pack which she stuffed the first scroll into.

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Ichiraku's ramen was always good, but that night Naruto found she was only able to down one bowl of it. Ayame and her father must have known that something was wrong, but also knew that she couldn't speak of such things. They did know how to offer comfort though, so when Naruto reached into her pocket and placed down the money owed for that single bowl, both placed a hand over hers and gave what they hoped was an encouraging look.

Naruto was only able to smile weakly at them in thanks.

As she walked through a park by the Academy, taking in as many of the sights as she could, she noticed Sasuke, except he was walking in the opposite direction, and he was carrying a backpack also.

"Going somewhere, Sasuke?" she asked as she stepped out of the concealing shadows.

The look Sasuke gave her was venomous, but had a sort of sick recognition to it also.

"Yes," he replied, a faint smirk appearing on his face. "I'm going to get the training that I deserve so that I can kill a certain man, one that you reminded me of just now."

Naruto felt her eyebrows lift a little, and could only whisper one name. "Orochimaru."

"I'm an avenger, and this village is only holding me back. They provide someone as worthless as you with training after removing you from the academy, leave you as an unlisted shinobi, not telling in any record what you do. I'm an Uchiha, I will always be better than you, yet they favor you, WHY IS THAT?" The last part was roared as he charged the girl, not caring what the consequences would be.

Waiting until the last moment, Naruto did a low sweep with her foot and used the momentum to haul herself back upright in time to catch Sasuke in the side of his face with a hook punch before gravity could catch up to him for not having his feet under him anymore. Grabbing into her backpack, Naruto withdrew a single syringe and jammed it into Sasuke's arm, injecting the drug quickly.

A brief sweep of chakra later, and Naruto knew that the coast was clear. Reaching down, she grabbed both of Sasuke's arms and hauled him off the trail and into a brushy area where they would be mostly safe from the eyes of others.

Shoving the supposed "genius" into a sitting position against a tree, she set down her backpack quickly and withdrew a scroll from it.

"You know Sasuke, you may not be able to move right now, but I know you can still talk, though quietly. And I do believe that seeing your behavior right now, it is time to put you in your place and make you understand the situation so you can stop acting like a spoiled child."

She briefly glanced at the dark eyed boy, aware of his glare at being compared to a child, but he held his tongue.

"For what I'm about to tell you, you must understand fully the implications, and why you are wrong with your chosen path. I will answer your questions after I give a brief explanation, and I will answer as truthfully as I can, no more secrets, understood?"

At Sasuke's nod, she opened the scroll, already changed to the hidden message.

"Your brother, Sasuke, Uchiha Itachi, is innocent of the Uchiha massacre." In all her life, Naruto never thought she would see Sasuke look dumbstruck while paralyzed. It was a rather amusing sight. "The true murderer is unknown as of now, but it is still an open investigation. Before you ask, Itachi knowingly took the blame because he knew that your drive would lead you to try to kill the responsible party."

Sasuke was staring, and doubt was showing on his face. He needed another push.

"Sandaime was investigating this matter, and after his death I started to head the investigation. Sasuke, there are documents showing that there was absolutely NO way that Itachi could have been the murderer. He was at the Hokage's office, witnessed there by several people, including the Hokage, signing documents."

Hope was starting to spark faintly in Sasuke's eyes, but it was extinguished right as he asked his first question. "Then why isn't he here, why didn't he tell me the truth?"

Naruto sighed. 'And he called ME an idiot.' "Sasuke, didn't you hear me the first time? He knew that you would try to kill the responsible party. He left Konoha knowing that you would come after him and try to kill him. Your BROTHER is risking the possibility of being KILLED by YOU so he can protect YOU because he knows that he COULDN'T kill you and the TRUE guilty party would see that as no problem."

Sasuke's glare was apparent, but despite the ice in it, Naruto knew that he was also mad at himself.

"What are you, truthfully?" he demanded.

"I'm a Hunter nin, Sasuke," Naruto admitted.

Sasuke's eyebrows arched slightly, but he moved on to his next question. "That answers why you're unlisted… Is Uzumaki your real name?"

"I don't know." At Sasuke's accusatory glare, she waved her arms in silent defense. "I really don't know, Sasuke. I was an orphan that was found after the Kyuubi attack. No one ever reported a missing child that was unaccounted for, so the Hokage named me."

"One more question," Sasuke said after a few moments of silence. "Why were you removed from the academy at eight and why did you become a Hunter nin?"

"That's two questions, teme," Naruto interjected in a playful manner. "But, to answer your question, I graduated from the academy at eight years old, and I became a Hunter so that I could bring my first sensei."

Sasuke's eyebrows shot up again as he stared at Naruto again. "Itachi… the papers, innocent, sensei?" He blurted out, confusing Naruto very badly for a moment.

Realizing what Sasuke meant though, she nodded again. "Yeah, Itachi was supposed to be my jounin sensei."

Silence reigned over the two fourteen year olds for a few minutes longer, before Naruto suddenly grabbed Sasuke and hauled him to his feet.

"What?" Sasuke asked as he was dragged somewhere again, his mind suddenly sharp with all that he had just heard.

"I know how we can both get what we need, Sasuke. The best part is, I won't have to go alone now."

"Where are you taking me?" he demanded once again.

"To see Tsunade, Sasuke. We're both about to become missing nins."


	27. Leaving

Saria: I love reviews!

Tori: I LOVE THEM TOO!

Saria: (glomps Tori) TORI!

Tori: (hugs back) SARIA!

Saria: TORI!

Tori: SARIA!

Zas: (sweatdrop)

SA: (sweatdrop) Knock that off you dopes. (hefts a mallet) NOW!

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"Tsunade-sama," Naruto said as she entered the Hokage's office, dragging a still slightly paralyzed Sasuke behind her. "We need to discuss an information mission that is probably long overdue by now."

Tsunade had stared at Naruto and Sasuke for several minutes before she asked the question.

"Does he know?"

Naruto nodded somberly, feeling the back of her throat beginning to dry.

"Alright then!" Tsunade exclaimed as she pulled out a mission sheet and began to fill it out. "Sasuke did become a chuunin in the last exam, and you're an accomplished Hunter nin, who might I add was just promoted to jounin by the council, so I don't see how you could look so nervous."

Naruto felt very choked about the comment on her being promoted to jounin, but managed to keep her cool, barely. This was just going to make her new mission harder.

"Tsunade-sama, this can't be a regular run-of-the-mill go meet an informant mission. This one is a special mission, requiring the same secrecy that was awarded to Itachi."

Both Sasuke and Tsunade stared at the girl who looked to be trembling slightly. Both wondered what could cause her such distress.

"Tsunade-sama, I need this to be a special S-rank mission that only Sasuke and I can perform. We need to tap Orochimaru's information network and find his notes on the cursed seals. You must see why we are the only ones who can go!"

Beside her, Sasuke at first looked proud that he would be included in an S-class mission. Hearing Naruto explain the mission though, he felt slightly sickened. Mere hours before he knew that Orochimaru wanted his body, and he would allow that in exchange for power. Naruto had changed that though. Itachi was innocent, and from what Sasuke could tell had most likely suffered worse than him, all to protect Sasuke. He still wanted to get stronger, but now he already felt another purpose rising in him, to protect what he had left in his family.

Tsunade on the other hand felt as though Naruto had just asked her to sentence them to hell. There was no way… "No, no, no, no, NO!"

"Hokage-sama, please use your head!" Naruto tried to pacify the raging woman.

"There are plenty of people in this village, older, wiser than the two of you!"

"This isn't a reconnaissance mission!"

"Then what is it? We can send someone that is better, or at least expendable like Jiraiya!"

"And have them do what? Run into the possibility of having to fight Orochimaru?"

"A team of ANBU would fare better than the two of you. You must realize this!"

"Tsunade-sama, this isn't reconnaissance because it will have to be an infiltration!"

Silance reigned in the office for a few minutes longer before Tsunade burst out into a fit of laughter.

"Now I know you're not serious, kid! How do you expect to be able to infiltrate Orochimaru's Sound village by having me assign you a… secret… mission."

"Simple, you are going to declare that Sasuke and I ran away from the village. Give us a few hours and then send a team after us who you can either order to lose us or something! You can send one of my previous teachers, they would understand!"

"Why would he welcome the two of you though?"

"Because, he had hopes to use our bodies."

Sasuke was staring at her in slight shock again, as was Tsunade.

"I was aware that he hoped to use Sasuke as a future vessel, but you?"

"I won't be a vessel. When he put the mark on me, was in the Forest of Death." Sasuke's eyes widened again. "I woke up, and continued to feign sleep when I heard him talking to Kabuto. He spoke of his intentions at that point."

The stares from both Sasuke and Tsunade were getting harder to deal with, and she found herself doing as Hinata used to when she was nervous, pushing the tips of her pointer fingers together. She however, was not blushing, and looked thoroughly disgusted.

"He wishes to use my body to breed more Uchiha that would be loyal to him and hopefully provide him with future host bodies."

Sasuke gaped.

Tsunade's mind was made up. "HELL NO!"

"Tsunade, we all take risks when we go on missions. I don't think he would push for me to carry a child immediately."

"IT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE!" Tsunade roared. "That freak isn't going to set a hand on either of you."

"I don't think he would have anything against having us kidnapped for him. He may be more willing to believe us if we seem to come on our own accord."

"Orochimaru is sick and twisted! Coming of your own will or not will make no difference with him."

"Hokage-sama," Sasuke began, finally speaking up for the first time. "We are both aware of the risks, and are ready to accept them. Just like my brother was."

"This is different! You're not your brother, Sasuke! You can't go alone."

"But he WON'T be alone, Tsunade-sama. I'll be there to watch his back. And we won't have truly left Konoha! I'd like it if you told Neji, Hinata, and Iruka at least. Mariko would probably figure this out quickly. Jiraiya should also be told. All of these people I would trust to keep this a secret."

Tsunade still looked unwilling, but she would have to agree in the end. They had given her too many good points.

"If it seems as though it is too dangerous and that we're about to be found out, we'll leave," Sasuke pointed out. "Naruto can keep in touch with you through her summon animals, and you can send messages back and forth."

Tsunade stared at the mission sheet quietly for several minutes before she finally sighed and picked up her pen.

"I'll expect at least one report or message a month. When you two withdraw from Orochimaru's, don't come directly here, go to a safe place and send me a message and I will in turn send you a message telling you a code of my choice that a team of ANBU that I will send to pick you up will know of. Oh, and if you two die, I will bring you back to life myself so that I can personally kill you."

"Understood, Hokage-sama," replied Sasuke and Naruto.

"I'll give you until noon tomorrow to get away from the village before I send one your teacher's after you, Naruto."

"Thank you, Tsunade-sama, that's more than I thought we could hope for. Sasuke, go pack your stuff and meet me at the North gate in one hour."

Sasuke nodded quickly before running from the office.

"Until we meet again, Tsunade-sama," Naruto said politely as she bowed slightly to the older woman. She was slightly surprised though when a warm pair of arms wrapped around her.

"Come back safe, you hear me brat?" Tsunade's voice was soft, and she sounded almost like she was about to cry.

"Don't worry, I will, obaa-chan," Naruto stated with a smirk.

"Brat, you have until dawn now."

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Packing was a complete breeze for Naruto since she was so used to it. All she put in her pack while at her apartment was a change of clothes, her wallet, the two other scrolls she had gotten from Sandaime, and a pre-made scroll that had emergency rations, water, and medicine in it. She took no pictures with her but made certain to seal all of the documents on Itachi back into the chessboard and pieces, Neji and Hinata would know where to look.

One last cursory glance around the apartment told her she had all she needed, but she froze for a moment to let her eyes travel over the room once more.

'I'll be back to this place soon enough,' she thought as she closed and sealed the door to her childhood home. 'It's just like any other mission.'

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She and Sasuke arrived at the North Gate at almost the same time, typical since he lived closer to the gate. Doing a once over on Sasuke's gear proved to be smart also, mainly because he brought a single picture with him.

"You have to leave it here," Naruto whispered as she set the photo on the ground. "If you take this, Orochimaru will keep a much closer eye on us because he may suspect that we are sentimental of Konoha."

"Or I could tell him it is to remind me of my hatred for the place," Sasuke countered.

"Orochimaru will not fall for such trickery," a voice called out, and both teens wheeled back toward the gates of Konoha to face two figures. "It would be best to say that you have turned your backs on this place."

"Koharu-san, Homura-san," Naruto murmured.

"We knew Orochimaru as a child, we were Sarutobi's teammates after all," said Homura as he stepped before the two teens. "He'll expect that you will have broken all ties with Konoha."

Koharu, who stood beside Homura, scanned both of the children, for that was all they were in her opinion. Sighing, she put her hands on Sasuke's shoulder. "Remember this young Uchiha; you are strong and smart, but not invincible. Neither is Naruto. Be sure to protect yourself, and her, no matter the consequences. Also realize that she is still your superior, so you must do as she says."

Naruto watched the exchange, feeling slightly surprised when Koharu told Sasuke to obey her. Then it was her turn. "Naruto, you I have known about since you were very little, but not once did either Homura or I think much of you until your teacher left. Since then, you have grown into a fine young adult, always letting your heart guide you in what was right and what you should do, and you always took responsibility for those you led. Let those virtues be your strength so you can return to Konoha safely."

With that, both elders stepped back and nodded at the two one last time before turning back to Konoha as the teens turned toward the wilderness.

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'She's a slave driver, that is the only way to describe her, A SLAVE DRIVER!' thought Sasuke as he tore after Naruto through the trees. The girl was setting a killer pace and was showing absolutely no signs of slowing down. She had made him run clear through the night, and at the pace she had set, they had left the country of fire before the sun had fully risen. That had been two days ago and she still hadn't let up on the pace. The direction they had gone in was north, and soon they entered a country known as the Rice Field country. Supposedly, Naruto had contacts that lived in the vicinity that claimed to know where Orochimaru lived.

For some reason or another though, Naruto seemed convinced that it would raise suspicions if they were to appear on Orochimaru's doorstep, so instead they had headed to where Hidden Sound was rumored to be.

Using her alias of Uzuta Shale, Naruto had entered several towns, making sure that her hair was colored white. She was pleased with the rate that news traveled. The news, which she shared with Sasuke was that the two had run away from Konoha and had already spread this far. She also let him know why she kept appearing in the towns without a henge, it was because Orochimaru had spies everywhere, and she was trying to make her presence well known. It was decided at that point that they would start entering the towns together, never disguised, and would make it seem like that were sickened by Konoha, and by each other.

In the next nameless town that they stopped in, Naruto reported to him quietly that they had a tail, so they made sure to have long and loud arguments over some of the most redundant of things, such as when they went to a market to buy breakfast, they would argue over whether they should buy apples or oranges. They'd argue over whether they should stay at one inn or another, if they should bath in the inn or go to a stream, and whether or not a hairbrush was a waste of packing space.

Five days after running from Konoha found them initiating an all out fight in the middle of a clearing when they found themselves a little lost.

"I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT I LET YOU HOLD THE MAP! YOU ARE COMPLETELY WORTHLESS!" Naruto roared at Sasuke as she formed a Rasengan.

"ME? YOU'RE THE ONE WHO PLOTTED THE ROUTE!" shouted Sasuke as he focused chakra to his hand.

"IT'S NOT MY FAULT IF YOU CAN'T FOLLOW A MAP!" Naruto screamed as she tried to put a cap on her anger for once, but kept the Rasengan active.

"HOW ARE YOU SO CERTAIN THAT YOU JUST DIDN'T PLOT IT RIGHT?!" Sasuke returned.

"BECAUSE I'VE NEVER GOTTEN LOST BEFORE, AND YOU WERE HOLDING THE MAP UPSIDE-DOWN!"

"AARRRGH!" Sasuke lunged forward, and the Chidori and Rasengan met, only for a minute though because Naruto instantly shoved her foot forward in a pushing motion, forcing them apart.

The Chidori and Rasengan dissipated rapidly, but Naruto and Sasuke weren't done. Reaching out, Naruto was able to grab a hold of Sasuke's arm and spun him around hard, smashing her palm against his back with a small stab of chakra infused into the strike, even as Sasuke's own arm came around and struck her on the shoulder.

"It would be more effective if you used a kunai," Naruto grunted as she shoved Sasuke forward once again.

Sasuke collapsed on the ground, his legs now useless, but he immediately began the hand signs for Katon: Karyuudan no Jutsu.

Jumping up, Naruto began hand signs also, but for Katon: Karyuu Endan no jutsu.

Both attacks collided, but with Naruto's easily overpowering Sasuke's and smashing into the ground not even ten feet away from where Sasuke was on the ground.

"This is getting us nowhere!" Naruto announced as she landed on the ground near him. "We're just wasting our time and energy."

"I couldn't agree more," came a familiar voice.

"Kabuto…" murmured Sasuke and Naruto simultaneously as they turned to face the smirking, silver haired man.


	28. Mariko

Tori: (is beet red) SARIA! HOW OFTEN DO YOU GET SICK?!?

Saria: Uugh…

Tori: Well I hope you've learned something.

SA: Learned anything? Her? Hah!

Zas: Tori, Saria has had stomach viruses several times a year for the last several years, ever since she moved into her school dorms!

Saria: I have learned something!

Tori, Zas, SA: WHAT?!

Saria: Never eat school cookies, especially the soft, slightly underdone ones. They'll make you sick even if they taste better…

Tori, Zas, SA: (sweatdrop)

WARNING: The Rating will be going up from now on, starting with the language in this chapter, but also due to (shifty eyes) OTHER reasons in later chapters.

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Kabuto pushed down the hard urge he was feeling to just reach out and throttle something or someone, two very specific someone's for that matter. Behind him, the two ex-Konoha brats were bickering, yelling, punching, and showing no signs of stopping. Behind them, the two remaining members of the Sound Four were gaping slightly. Seeing Kidoumaru gape at someone was disturbing. Seeing Tayuya gape at someone because of foul language was both sad and hilarious. Sasuke and Naruto were managing it.

"You worthless, slime eating, maggot kissing, little fucker!" Naruto screamed as she grabbed at Sasuke's shirt, easily lifting him from his feet. "I don't give a flying shit about your name!"

Sasuke grimaced slightly, but managed to tear himself from her grasp. "You seem to forget, whore, that your bloodline is completely useless in battle! All that I've seen you capable of doing is change the damn color of your hair! I'm an Uchiha! I have the Sharingan!"

"You're name slinging again!" Naruto shouted, jumping slightly ahead, almost into Kabuto, pointing her finger at Sasuke. "And I haven't gone as far as I can go in front of you, yet."

"How did they start arguing about bloodlines?" Kabuto heard Kidoumaru quietly ask Tayuya.

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Neither Neji nor Hinata were happy when they found out about Naruto's mission, but were relieved when they heard she hadn't gone alone. Neji had to be restrained from charging after her when they heard who accompanied her. Later that same day, they went through the same thing again when Jiraiya was told.

Iruka was told an edited version as well, except that he was told the ONLY reason that Naruto and Sasuke went was to find a way to counter the cursed seal that was placed on Sasuke and Anko. At that point he had to be physically restrained to keep him from also pursuing Naruto.

Before the sun even marked noon though, Hinata went to Naruto's apartment and gathered the chess set, just to insure its safety. When she left, she made sure to reseal the door again, but completely missed Mariko showing up mere moments later.

A week had passed since then, and no reports had shown up yet.

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In Orochimaru's lair, Naruto and Sasuke were first brought before a heavily bandaged Orochimaru who seemed to observe the two quietly for a few minutes before a slow, and in Naruto's opinion, lecherous smirk crossed his visage. Naruto managed to keep her face somewhat impassive as she adapted to doing on missions, but she couldn't help the slight narrowing of her eyes.

"Sasuke-kun and Naruto-chan, what a pleasant surprise," stated the snake nin as he stood from what looked like a throne.

'Typical, egotistical bastard…' Naruto thought as the snake stepped forward. 'It would serve him right if he should trip. And what is with the mummy-like appearance?'

Orochimaru observed the two for several minutes longer, seeming to finally take in the fact that both, though they had bathed in streams, were dirty.

"Tayuya, Kidoumaru," both of the shinobi straightened considerably when he said their names. "Take these two and have them get baths and clothes."

Both nodded, Tayuya with a considerable scowl on her face.

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Mariko stared at the mostly blank walls of Naruto's apartment, several dozen empty cups of ramen around her feet. It had been a week since she had shown up on Naruto's doorstep to tell her about what she had discovered, and she was quickly losing patience.

It never had occurred to her that Naruto may have been on a mission, in fact, she was certain that Naruto was just at the store or something.

'Good thing Naruto has so much ramen,' she thought as she turned on Naruto's decrepit television and pulled out her personal game console. AND A REALLY GOOD THING I NEVER LEAVE HOME WITH OUT MY PS3!"

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Naruto had decided point blank that she could stand Tayuya's presence, as long as she kept her mouth shut, which wasn't much if at all.

When her bag was taken from her, Naruto knew that it was going to be searched and was glad that she had disguised her scrolls from Sandaime as simple technique scrolls that described her "bloodline", or attributes that Kyuubi had added to her that would be passed down to her children. Just a little bit of an interesting read if Orochimaru did go nosing through her stuff.

Currently though, she was looking for the clothes that she had removed from her pack and brought with her. They were no where in sight. In place for her clothes was a plain black yukata with bandages that she could use to bind her "womanly assets".

'I feel like I've been blasted about two hundred years into the past,' she thought as she dressed herself. 'I hope these are just temporary so that my original clothes could get cleaned…'

Neither Tayuya nor Kidoumaru were in sight when Naruto left the bathroom. Sasuke appeared just down the hall though, and wearing a black yukata not unlike the one Naruto wore. He looked just as disturbed as Naruto felt.

"They took my clothes," he hissed at her as he approached, yanking slightly at one of the sleeves on his yukata.

"Would you prefer green spandex?" was Naruto's reply as she attempted, lamely, to make a joke. Surprisingly it worked because a faint smile of mirth, combined with a slight grimace, crossed Sasuke's face.

Kabuto chose that moment to appear and signaled to both of the teens that they were to follow him. The still mummy-like Orochimaru joined them as they walked down one hall, taking the lead as they walked past several cells that were packed with people.

"You are my chosen one, Sasuke-kun," Orochimaru stated. "Naruto-chan shall also have a very special purpose here."

'Need to play along…' "Enough chit-chat, I came here because I believed you could help me become stronger." 'And that might have been too far.'

Kabuto leaned forward at that point to whisper something, but Naruto pointedly ignored him. Sasuke however, gave Kabuto a rather heated glare. Orochimaru glanced back at them, and Naruto was certain that behind the bandages, he was smirking.

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Her pack had been gone through. Naruto could tell despite the fact that whoever had gone through it had tried their best to put everything back in order. She could tell because her scrolls were in a slightly different order and several of her clothes were also folded slightly different. She had known that this would most likely happen, but it still unnerved her greatly.

Sighing slightly, she glanced around the room that had been provided for her. It was a simple room, carved out of stone with nothing in it save for a bed, a desk with a chair, and a night stand. Very Spartan, but it was provided only for the basic need of sleep.

'I'm not even going to bother to do something like unpack,' she thought as she pulled out a basic pair of black gi pants and a red t-shirt form her pack. 'If I know anything about Orochimaru, its is that he likes to move, meaning we may only be staying here for maybe a week,' she thought as she changed, then glancing at her hair, wondered whether she should change it from the stark white it was now to a different color, maybe black for now…

An image of Orochimaru jumped into her mind and she couldn't help but to shove the thought of black hair away, only to remember Itachi and his black hair. The day that the old man Hokage had placed Itachi as her teacher, Itachi had ruffled his hand in her hair, right after their "team" picture had been taken.

Glancing down at her long hair, she blushed slightly when she saw that it had changed to her old color of golden blonde, a color she hadn't revisited since Kyuubi had given her the ability to change her hair color. Kyuubi would most likely scream at her later about blonde ditzes and colors that screamed "here I am, come and kill me".

'Well, at least I didn't do something immensely stupid, like wear an orange jumpsuit!' Naruto joked lamely as she tied her hair back and lay down on the bed to catch some sleep.

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Morning came too fast for many people in the compound of Orochimaru. Sasuke was one of them, and though he knew that he was suppose to be acting as though he came here to train and gain power, he didn't want to sacrifice his sleep time. He didn't want to have to get up at 4:30am when 6 seemed to be a much better time.

He lost the fight though when Naruto, also peeved at having to get up so early and unwilling to have to do it alone, had come in with a water balloon filled with ice water and broke it on his head.

Now, not even five minutes later, Tayuya, the dark pink haired girl was howling with laughter after she had found out how Naruto got Sasuke out of bed, Kidoumaru was lightly snickering, he was still wet, and it was cold outside, especially since the sun wasn't even about to grace the sky since even the horizon wasn't lightening yet.

The four of them were going to be training together for right now, if what Kabuto, who had been biting his tongue, had said was true. It would be a test to see how far along Naruto and he were.

Finally, Tayuya's laughter died down and she took a serious stance and she glared at both Naruto and Sasuke.

"Alright you asses, Orochimaru-sama ordered that we were to test you to see what your current levels are so we know just how much you've been babied by that pathetic village that you came from."

'Don't react,' Naruto ordered herself during Tayuya's speech, even forcing a smirk when Tayuya called the village weak. 'Well, she did describe Sakura pretty well…' Naruto thought.

"We'll be testing your skills individually, gauging your strengths and weaknesses," Kidoumaru continued for Tayuya. "If you are having too easy of a time, then the another will assist. However, I don't expect for that to happen."

"Confident, aren't we?" replied Sasuke with a slight sneer. Naruto didn't even attempt to hide a smile herself.

"Neither of you has the second level of the cursed seal yet, and Orochimaru-sama is planning on making that wait until the next time we move, which puts us at an advantage," Kidoumaru replied, his eyes slowly widening with excitement.

"And this conversation is boring me," Naruto smirked as she got into a fighting stance. "Sasuke, I'll take four arms." Sasuke glared at her, but didn't object. Across from them, Tayuya and Kidoumaru both smirked.

"Well then, lets get started," Kidoumaru said as he stepped forward, also taking a fighting stance.

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Hinata smiled down at the letter that she had just received that day from Suna. Ever since the end of the Chuunin exam, Gaara and her had been staying in touch through letters. Neji knew about this, but they had yet to tell anyone else, even Naruto. Hinata was certain that the rest of the Hyuuga family wouldn't approve of her keeping correspondence in such a way, even with someone from an allied village.

"So, what has Gaara got to say this time?" Neji asked as he came through the door into Hinata's room.

Hinata smiled brightly to Neji as she told him the good news. "He's going to come back to Konoha for a visit! He writes that he can't wait to see us again and that he'll be able to stay for a full month."

Neji on the other hand froze. "By us, he means the whole gang, right?"

"Yes," Hinata replied. "He hopes to see you, me, Na… ru… to… Uh oh…"

"I never thought that I would be one to say this, but I would give anything to switch places with Naruto right now. If we say she has a mission, he might want to know for what and how long. If we tell Gaara that she has run-off to join Orochimaru, he might go on a spree to Sound to drag her back. If we tell him she disappeared or was kidnapped, he'll go on a killing spree anyway, after crushing me for letting that happen…"

"Neji-ni-san, shut up," Hinata snapped.

Shocked at the remark, Neji actually did.

"We'll deal with this when the time comes, but right now, we still have a mission to complete. By the way, have you seen Mariko recently?"

Neji could only shake his head in a negative.

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Naruto grinned as she peaked out from her current hiding spot. Kidoumaru had no clue where she was, and she had already sent a number of shadow clones out to look for him.

'Well, although my initial assessment of what his skills would be was wrong, I still seem to have an advantage over him,' she thought. 'With the number of arms he has, I was honestly expecting some sort of strength fighter, but spiders aren't all that bad…'

Glancing around, she thought for a moment she saw a flash of brownish white, but wasn't certain. Their fight had begun in a clearing in the forest, but had soon moved into the trees. Probably not the smartest thing considering Kidoumaru's abilities, but Naruto was unwilling to stay in the open.

'Alright, several things I know about situations like this, spiders are cold blooded and become sluggish in cold weather. I have a jutsu that can cause snow and an ability to help me blend in with my surroundings better. I also have experience with snowy environments. Heh heh, looks like I have a plan.' Taking care to hide her chakra, Naruto began the hand seals that would cause the storm and her grin grew when she felt the temperature begin to drop almost immediately.

In the clearing, Tayuya and Sasuke both felt the temperature begin to drop, and Sasuke knew immediately what Naruto was doing.

"You might want to get ready to jump in," he said to Tayuya. "Naruto is pulling out the stops and seems to have a plan."

"I'm not going to be the one who steps in," replied Tayuya with a smug grin as the snow flakes began to fall.

"Found you…" Naruto whispered as she finally caught sight of Kidoumaru, who indeed had gotten slightly sluggish with the snow, not to mention was sticking out like a preppy cheerleader at an Anime convention. Naruto's now loose and white hair covered her dark clothes effectively, and she blended beautifully with the snow.

Pouncing down from her hiding place, Naruto brought her fists together and gave Kidoumaru a hard double hammer fist across the top of his head, knocking him out almost instantly.

"Man that was easy," Naruto murmured as she nudged Kidoumaru with her foot.

"It's not over yet," said a voice from behind her

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"Hinata, any reason as to why we are going to Naruto's apartment?" Neji asked as he followed his cousin up the stairs to the rather run down apartment.

"Where else would you expect to find Mariko if she is in fact in the village if she's not with Kakashi?"

"Good point, still are you…" Both froze when they saw Naruto's door, wide open. "I believe you now Hinata."

Stepping through the door, both saw a large pile of ramen cups that half obscured a figure from view, one that was playing a PS3.

"Mariko? A PS3? Sweet!" Neji said as he plopped down next to the girl, who took no notice of them.

"Mariko? Mariko? Hey, did you get any information?" Hinata began waving her hands in front of the face of the woman, before finally jumping in between the television and Mariko.

"Woah! You're back!" exclaimed Mariko as she finally noticed the two Hyuuga. "That was some shopping trip. Is Naruto back yet?"

Neji and Hinata sweatdropped simultaneously before shaking their heads in the negative.

"Man, that must be some shopping trip. Where'd she go anyway?"

"Mariko, Naruto is on a mission right now, she probably won't be back for months, if even that." Neji answered.

"Really? Too bad… Where'd she go anyway?"

"On an undercover mission," Hinata replied, pointedly not telling Mariko to where. The last time that Naruto had gone on a hunt while undercover and Mariko had been told, the girl had almost wrecked the mission completely when she went to the organization's headquarters and started asking for the undercover agent.

"Ok," Mariko replied as she jumped up and headed for the door of the apartment. "I'll just go see Kakashi really quick then go off to find her. My little lovey must have gotten lonely while I was away. And Naruto will be pleased to know that I got a lead on who actually committed the massacre! Ja ne!"

Hinata and Neji stared after the girl for a full minute before what she had said finally sunk in.

"BYAKUGAN!" they yelled simultaneously as they attempted to track the girl.

"Find her quick!" Hinata shouted as she leapt out the window, Neji following close behind. "We need that information!"

"Not to mention we need her to pretend to be Naruto for when Gaara comes!" Neji shouted as he headed in the direction that was opposite of Hinata seeing as how neither could find her with their Byakugan yet.

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Mariko giggled as Kakashi pulled his mask back up after their final candy kiss.

"Bye bye Kaka-chan! I'll see you soon!" Mariko called as she ran out the gates of Konoha.


	29. Testing

Saria: Ok… I think there are more people that I need to thank and give shout outs for right now.

SA: Whoo-hoo…

Saria: First off is Roy, who has helped me a whole lot more than I think he'll ever know, both in writing this fic, helping me kick around new ideas for fics, and of course, for helping with my computer.

Zas: And helping you when you went off the deep end!

Tori: Cookies!

Saria: (blush) I would also like to thank my faithful reviewer, Ash! Also, if anyone else likes the stories written by Stars of Yaoi, please help me bother her into continuing her writing!

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Naruto grinned at Kabuto, who obviously was the one who planned to jump in now that Kidoumaru was out of the picture.

"Hi four eyes," Naruto greeted with a perky smile, keeping her disappointment to herself when Kabuto actually smirked at her antics.

"Shall we continue the evaluation of your skills now, Naruto-san?" he asked, not missing a beat.

Grinning faintly, Naruto slipped into her traditional fighting stance, knowing already that this would be a close combat taijutsu match. Of course, since she was trying to make herself seem as appealing as she possibly could in reports, she decided immediately that it was time to pull out the stops. Her stance was the opening stance for her version of the Jyuuken. And she was certain that she saw Kabuto blink in surprise when he noted the similarity in the stance.

Kabuto's stance, Naruto's hunter training told her that it was for a style that was typical for medical ninjas, but he was obviously very well trained in it. The fact that he was also focusing chakra to his hands also clued her in that he probably had some sort of cutting technique lying in wait for her, especially considering that medical ninja usually preferred cutting to other forms of destruction.

There would be no point in delaying the fight though, because that would just give Kabuto time to formulate a plan anyway.

So it was no surprise when Naruto immediately surged forward, pulling her hand back for her first strike, forming her chakra into the spikes that were a part of her style. For Naruto that is.

Kabuto wasn't surprised by the head-on charge that Naruto did. He was surprised though by the feeling of a spike piercing his arm when he made to block the strike. Jumping back, he immediately sent healing chakra to his arm and found that there was indeed damage there, not unlike what a chakra blade would do, and it didn't even leave a mark on his skin!

'Impressive,' he thought, as once again he lunged at the girl with his chakra scalpel technique. 'High flexibility,' he continued as Naruto twisted her body and evaded his strikes, 'and yet no power is lost.'

Naruto dodged most of the blows that Kabuto sent at her, not really wanting to show the full extent of her abilities. She kept most of her blows a little slower than she was capable of, and also made it seem like she had to focus hard on the spikes to manifest them. She sent one last blow at Kabuto, a glancing strike that hit the area around his appendix before jumping back.

'That may have looked like an accident, but he'll surely be feeling that!' Naruto mentally chuckled.

Kabuto did feel it; he felt the strike very well. 'I'm going to need further medical attention than I can give to myself. The really humiliating part is that she seems to be holding back still.' Taking a single step forward, he mostly held back a hard wince as he felt more pain rocket through his body. Not even his advanced healing ability was really helping him.

'She hasn't used the cursed seal yet though, and I don't have one to use. Looks like I'll actually have to call out Kimimaro.'

Kabuto then pulled out what Naruto thought she recognized as a summoning scroll, but rather than try to rush forward and try to keep track of him, she jumped back even further and took cover behind a tree while at the same time sending out a chakra thread to where Kabuto was, one that was only meant to help her keep track of him. She felt it through the thread when he threw the scroll, and had a slight start when she realized that what was summoned was not an animal of any sort, but a human being.

Peeping around the tree trunk, she saw that the one summoned was a man, one with white hair that was more or less shoulder length and very vivid green eyes. Naruto also noted that an air of control and sickness seemed to hang around him as well.

'Why does he seem so sad?' Naruto thought as she stared out at him.

Kabuto broke the momentary silence. "Naruto, Kimimaro here is going to continue this fight."

Neither Kimimaro not Naruto spoke a word as Kabuto dragged himself away. Neither moved for several minutes after Kabuto had left, until Kimimaro reached up to his shoulder area, moving the collar of his shirt slightly, and pulled out… a bone.

Naruto stared, and stared, and stared. A part of her was deeply disturbed and disgusted by what she was seeing, but another part of her was fascinated.

'Thank god Kyuubi didn't give me an ability like that…' she thought as she moved out from behind the tree and entered her ready stance. Kimimaro seemed to take no stance, and once again she was reminded of how utterly wrong he seemed.

Both charged forward at that same moment, Naruto aiming a strike at his shoulder, Kimimaro blocking with his sword, only for her to grab the sword with her striking hand and use it as leverage to bring herself up to try to land a side kick, which he avoided with a smooth lean backwards.

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Sasuke and Tayuya had made it to the clearing in time to see the end of Kabuto's attempt to fight Naruto and now watched as she and Kimimaro faced off.

"Not very good, was he?" Tayuya said, referring directly to Kabuto.

"It wasn't that as much as it was a bad pairing on his part," Sasuke answered. "Naruto is faster than him and she surprised him somehow and landed a very heavy blow it would seem."

Tayuya merely "hmphed" at Sasuke's remark before adding, "She can surprise him all she likes, but she won't be able to defeat Kimimaro."

Both focused on the field and watched the two go back and forth for a few minutes more, both trying to obviously figure the other out. It drew a look of shock from Kimimaro and a shouted expletive from Tayuya though when, as Kimimaro blocked another of the girl's strikes, his bone sword some how blew apart.

"Looks almost like this match could go either way to me," Sasuke stated.

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For the two Hyuuga, luring Mariko back to Konoha was actually very easy, they simply promised to buy her some ramen and ice cream. Once back in Konoha, they began the next phase of their plan, make Mariko talk and also make her promise to pretend to be Naruto when Gaara arrived. It soon proved to be the only part that would be easy.

"So now Gaara will be coming, but we don't want to tell him about Naruto because he may do something really rash," Neji finished, as Mariko called for her third bowl of ice cream.

"Why not just tell him the truth?" Mariko asked as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. "If I know Gaa-chan, he'll understand!"

"Gaa-chan?" Neji asked as Hinata did her best to suppress her giggles.

"Yeah, Gaa-chan! Calling him Kazekage-sama or something like that would be too much of a pain, so Gaa-chan works just great!"

"Gaa-chan…" Hinata tested the name, and found that she actually somewhat liked it.

Neji shook his head; it was too weird of a name for him to even wish to try. "Wait a second, Kazekage-sama?!"

"Yeah, I found it weird too," Mariko said with a laugh. "Apparently, his father, the previous Kazekage was killed before the attack on Konoha and afterwards Gaara became the Kazekage! Pretty cool, huh? More ice cream!"

Neji nodded numbly, setting more money on the counter to pay for the ice cream. Then, turning to Hinata, he whispered; "Now we know that there is absolutely no way that we're going to tell him. If he asks us, we say that Tsunade assigned her a mission."

Hinata nodded before stepping forward.

"Mariko-san, you said earlier that you had gotten some information about the case we are working on, is that true?"

"Yep!" replied the girl in between heaping spoonfuls of the sweet.

Hinata gave Neji a pointed nod, and he immediately did the handsigns for a limited reception jutsu so that only he and Hinata would hear Mariko's words and so no one could hope to read her lips. Barrier in place, he nodded back to Hinata.

"So, what is that news that you have for us, Mariko?"

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Naruto's match with Kimimaro ended in a draw, Kimimaro holding a bone sword/whip that he had made from his spinal column at her throat, her holding a Rasengan to his temple, their free arms locked. Neither moved nor backed down. They just stood there, looking almost like statues.

"Wow," Tayuya murmured as she took in the scene that was before her. She had been certain that Kimimaro would win, yet here he was, pitted against a younger girl who apparently matched him.

Sasuke smirked slightly at the scene. He had been right about Naruto possibly having a chance, and it felt great to one up that Tayuya girl. Still, he would have been more pleased if Naruto had won.

"You know, neither of us can win at this point," Naruto muttered to Kimimaro.

"So it would seem."

"So, are you going to let go any time soon?"

"Are you?"

'Great,' was the thought that flashed through Naruto's head, of course in a sarcastic tone. 'This guy is so blank that I'm surprised he's even aware that he's alive.'

"How about this," she replied. "On the count of three, we both let go and jump back, ok?"

The bone user simply nodded.

"Alright, one… two… three!" Naruto deactivated her Rasengan while simultaneously unlocking her other arm from his and jumped back. Kimimaro in turn also let go of her arm and pulled his bone weapon back.

"You two need to fight now," Kimimaro intoned smoothly, blankly, as he nodded toward Tayuya and Sasuke. "You should come with me," he added, looking at Naruto this time. "Orochimaru-sama wished to see you once you were done here."

Naruto nodded as she moved to follow Kimimaro, the sounds of Sasuke and Tayuya squaring off behind her as they moved through the woods.

'He's so quiet,' she thought as she followed the white haired man. 'Reminds me of how Neji was before I corrupted him! Maybe he is still salvageable…'

"How long have you been with Orochimaru?"

At first it seemed as though Kimimaro was going to ignore her, then he simply answered, "A long time."

'How talkative…' "Many good fighters here?"

"Some."

Naruto sweatdropped. "Better than average or just good fighters?"

Kmimaro seemed to only shrug at her question.

"Have you ever been able to compare what you see here to what others can do?"

Kimimaro still didn't answer as he began to descend the stairs into the dark underground hide out. Once again, as she also descended the stairs, Naruto felt the darkness in the air. Anyone could tell that this was a place of pain. The dark hallways that extended out in front of them didn't help the mood either.

Down one hallway, up the next, the path to Orochimaru's inner chamber seemed pretty straight, none of the hallways curved, they simply ended and a new one began. Before she even really felt ready, they were standing before a door that Naruto recognized as the one that entered into Orochimaru's "throne room".

Kimimaro didn't move to open the door, but he did nod to Naruto before turning and heading else where.

Naruto understood and immediately pushed the door open, quietly entering the room, trying to screw her face into a barely concealed scowl, as though she were angry to be interrupted from training. And there sat Orochimaru, in his supposed throne.

Her scowl momentarily became a real one; Orochimaru was still trying to pass himself as nobility or royalty.

'Great, a pedophile who is convinced that he is nobility or something. What is this world coming too?!'

"You wished to see me?" she asked in a tight, slightly agitated sounding voice.

"Yes Naruto-chan, I did." Naruto fought back a huge scowl at the –chan suffix.

"Naruto-chan, what did you do back in Konoha? What were you trained for?"

"I was trained with purpose of infiltration, reconnaissance, and assassination. Right before we left, the counsel spoke of promoting me to Jounin." 'Not the truth, but not a lie either.'

Orochimaru smiled wickedly at that point.

'He's planning something…'

"Naruto-chan, I do have a mission that will require your skills, based upon how well you perform is how I'll decide how you should be ranked."

Naruto nodded, suspicion rising in her gut telling her that there was a trick in this somewhere.

"A man who used to work for me and his two assistants have outlived their usefulness to me. His name is Amachi, you'll find him in the Sea Country, on a little island where I used to have experiments done. Go there and kill him then destroy the lab."

"Hai," was all she said before she left to gather her things. 'Looks as though I will get breaks from this place, but I doubt that Sasuke will be as lucky. Thank god that this is only a criminal that I'll have to knock off, I'll actually be doing the world a favor while here. I can also check for those notes while there.'

Arriving at what was her room, she picked up her pack, removing things that she wouldn't need such as some of her equipment scrolls. A brief once over and she headed to the medical center to pick up some bandages just in case she would need some.

Kabuto was in the medical center, which was just as dark as the rest of the complex, and was actually very willing to give her some supplies for the mission. As she waited for him to come back, she noticed a person who was hooked up to several monitors, and had white hair.

'Guess Kimimaro really is very sick…' she thought as her gaze wandered a little farther. 'And that is probably not helping in the least,' Naruto added when her gaze caught a rotting corpse, one that was barely more than a bunch of bones. The odd thing was that the corpse still had a ring on one of its hands, but Kabuto returned before she could investigate it any further.

It wasn't even 8am yet when Naruto emerged outside and headed for the Sea Country.


	30. Kiss

Saria: (is happily typing)

Tori: (peeping over Saria's shoulder)

SA: She's actually working…

Zas: Well duh! She really want s to get to the juicy stuff, and with exams almost over, she feels a lot more comfortable doing it.

SA: Not to mention she is already brainstorming her next fic…

Saria: YEP!!

Tori:

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For Naruto, the journey to Sea Country meant several things. The first and foremost was that she would get a time out from Orochimaru despite the fact that she had only been there for not even three days.

The second reason she was pleased was because she would finally have the opportunity to send Tsunade a message, which she did using a toad since Orochimaru hopefully wouldn't know about her ability to summon them. In the message, she wrote that she was going to Sea Country on a mission to destroy one of Orochimaru's labs. She also gave a brief description on the forces that Orochimaru kept around him, and the air of wrongness that she kept feeling in the base.

The third reason was because, although she would most likely bite her tongue off and swallow it before admitting it to anyone, she wanted a chance to see Itachi again. Over the past two years she had gotten glances of him, had been able to pick up clues from him and sent him messages, but otherwise had had little contact with him.

All in all, Naruto viewed this trip as a great opportunity.

At noon, Naruto stopped briefly by a creek and caught some fish, which she quickly cooked over a smoky fire, then continued on her way, eating as she went. Evening came but she continued walking and dinner consisted of the leftover fish that she had. It was almost midnight when she arrived in Sea Country, but she still found an open inn where she decided to stay for the night using a bit of her own money.

Right before she went up the stairs to her room though, she caught a brief glance of a black cloak with red clouds, and a pair of red eyes that followed her.

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Tsunade read through Naruto's report, carefully taking note of all the little bits on things that "seemed off" with him and his followers. She also noted with some interest the location where Naruto was headed.

'Hmmm… Sea Country.' Turning her head to the door, she called for her assistant, Shizune. "Bring Anko here to me as quickly as you can."

Turning her attention back to her desk for just a moment, she quickly swept her collection of sake bottles off of the surface, and onto the floor for Shizune to later yell about but pick up anyway.

She also let her eyes fall on the picture that Sasuke and Naruto had left with elders Homura and Koharu. It featured the two of them, Sakura, and Kakashi during their brief time as a team. She also remembered Sakura's immediate reaction to hearing that the two of them had left. The girl had appeared before her in tears, screaming about how Naruto must have convinced Sasuke to elope with her and that they needed to prepare a party to go rescue him from the "evil clutches of the handmaiden of Satan". To this day Tsunade never figured out where Sakura was able to get as much sake as she had had before coming in.

Anko barged in then, not even bothering to knock on the door. "Hokage-sama?"

"Anko, do you know Uzumaki Naruto?"

A grin broke out on Anko's face. "Know her? I was one of her senseis! Come to think of it, I have yet to pay her back for her act during the Chuunin exam several years ago…"

Tsunade's eyes widened slightly.

"It's really too bad that she ran off like she did though, and with that Uchiha none the less! She had the making to be our best hunter, and instead she goes charging off to the snake bastard and now I want nothing more than to rip each one of them a new air hole!"

Tsunade coughed slightly, bringing Anko's attention back on to her.

"I am going to assign you a VERY special mission, and hearing your history with Naruto makes it seem as though you may be perfect for the job. Originally I was going to send you to watch over a shipment of money being sent to Kirigakure, but this seems like something you would have a more personal interest in."

"Oh? And what would that be?"

"You will join Naruto in storming a secret lab of Orochimaru's, orders are to kill all people that are inside, and come back here with duplicates on as many of the notes on the cursed seal as you can."

Anko stared at her for a few seconds, Tsunade even sensing the unasked question before Anko's hidden genius caught up, and the woman let out a mighty "WHOOP!"

"I KNEW IT!!" Anko yelled as she beat the air with her fist. "The kid really has become the best; she has the whole village fooled! And that Uchiha kid, Sasuke, he has to be in league with her, isn't he?"

Tsunade was dumbstruck, she knew this woman was loud, just like Gai, but seriously, she was going to have to evacuate this village if they some how got together and produced a child. She was so shocked in fact; that when she began speaking, she completely forgot that just moving her lips wasn't enough to speak. Luckily, Anko knew how to lip read and understood her completely.

"I shall leave within the hour Hokage-sama and make great haste to find her!"

Anko was out of the room before Tsunade ever got a chance to reply. Leaning back though, she decided that there was nothing she could do about this and wrote a note to Naruto which she sent using one of her own slugs. Then, placing her head gently on the table in the hopes of catching a nap, Tsunade was once again rudely barged in on when her door was slammed open without so much as a courtesy knock once again.

Looking up, she saw Hyuuga Neji standing there, a scroll in hand.

"I just wanted to give you a heads up on something, Hokage-sama," he said.

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It was very late, but Naruto was also very hungry from her trip still. The fish that she had eaten that day hadn't been very satisfying. Luckily, the inn keeper still had some food and when she had approached, her stomach had done all the talking.

The inn keeper, a plump old man with a jolly gleam in his eyes, had laughed slightly at her stomach's protests and had given her a decent sized bowl of seafood curry, which Naruto ate happily. Itachi appeared moments after she had finished her meal, and with her peripheral vision she caught the hands signs he made that said he wanted to talk to her by the shore in ten minutes.

She calmly looked around the inn from her seat, and then started to tap her nails in what would seem a random rhythm, but was actually a pattern that told him she understood.

Picking up her dishes, she ducked into the kitchen, preparing to do them herself when a woman, whom Naruto believed was the inn keeper's wife, came over and took them from her, laughing about how a guest was trying to do chores.

Naruto had seen it fit to blush and then slid through the back door to keep from attracting too much attention.

She walked at a slow even pace down the streets, looking to the world like a young girl just enjoying the moonlight, arriving at the shore at the exact time specified by Itachi. Walking closer to the water, she suddenly felt as though her stomach had jumped and twisted, and she knew instantly that this was a genjutsu so she simply focused on stopping her flow of chakra momentarily.

"You've grown and gotten better I see," a smooth voice said that came from off to her left just a little ways. "That was one of my strongest repelling genjutsu and you handled it fairly easily."

"Itachi," she greeted evenly.

"Why did you leave Konoha?"

'Should have seen that one coming from a mile away,' Naruto thought. "I didn't actually leave. As I told you before, Sasuke and I both have been marked with the cursed seal. The way mine is acting is strange, and this was a mission to hopefully find some notes or something that could shed some light on how to remove them."

Itachi was silent for a second before saying, "Am I to assume that Sasuke is participating in this?"

"Yes," Naruto paused for a moment, "He doesn't wish to kill you anymore."

"Has he finally grown up a little then?"

"Yes, he has grown up quite a bit."

"What brought around this change though?"

'Shit.' "I caught him attempting to leave Konoha to really join Orochimaru. I stopped him and beat some sense into him. Bet he's still a bit sour about that."

Itachi actually cracked a smile at that, for a brief moment. "You told him though, didn't you?"

There was nothing in his voice that sounded accusing, but Naruto winced slightly anyway.

"I felt as though it was necessary. Sorry if you do not approve."

"Actually, I understand perfectly well," Itachi replied as he came closer. He stood by her side after only a few steps. "I should say that it is a bit of a relief to know that he may forgive me one day for leaving him."

Despite the warm night air, Naruto found herself shivering slightly when she realized how close Itachi now was. Something inside was ringing with excitement, making her heart pound. 'Stop it!' she mentally screamed while out loud, she said, "I don't believe he views anything you did do as requiring forgiveness, or if it did, he has already forgiven you. Before we left Konoha, after he was told of your sacrifice, he seemed to love the idea of a mission that would make him feel somewhat like you."

"Sounds a lot like how he was when we were children," Itachi stated. "Some things never change I guess, and I'm glad about this one."

"Good to have some thing that you know is reliable?"

"Yes," Itachi sighed. "Good to know that after all this time, there will be at least one person who will welcome me back to Konoha if I return."

"WHEN you return, and believe me, there will be many more than just Sasuke happy about your return. The elders have expressed an interest in seeing you return, Tsunade is helping when she can and has already prepared to insure your case is heard so you can be given a complete pardon. Jiraiya, also known as ero-sennin is helping Tsunade, and there is Hinata and Neji who have been helping me."

"The Hyuuga heir is helping you? And what do you mean by ero-sennin?"

"Hinata and I have been friends for a long time now, and I call Jiraiya ero-sennin for reasons that will become obvious within minutes of actually meeting him."

"And you studied under this man?" Itachi turned to her rather suddenly, one of his hands coming up to touch her shoulder, and Naruto felt a warmth spread inside her, starting from the contact point. "Did he touch you at all?"

"N-no, he d-didn't." 'I'm sounding like Hinata used to when she still thought I was a guy!'

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"AH-CHOO!"

Neji burst out laughing as Hinata blushed over the huge sneeze she had just had.

"Excuse me…" she mumbled before turning her eyes back on the pictures that they had been looking at.

"I remember you telling me about this one," Neji said, still smirking. "This was when you first met Naruto, and you thought she was a long haired boy because no one told you otherwise and she dressed like a boy!"

Hinata nodded as she turned the page.

"You know, everyone thought you had a crush on her or something back then."

Hinata blushed to whole new shades of red.

"So, you DID have a crush on her!" Neji crowed triumphantly. He was stopped cold at that point with by a strike from Hinata.

"Maybe if she really had been a guy," Hinata murmured.

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Itachi seemed to relax a good bit and gently lifted his hand from her shoulder, and Naruto noted that he seemed to have a bit of a blush, one that could be easily missed though.

"What about you?" he asked suddenly.

Naruto stared at him, still in a bit of shock.

"Would you be happy, if I returned to Konoha?"

Naruto lowered her head, trying to hide her blush. "Would it make you happy to return to Konoha after this is all over?"

"I don't know. I've met several others who are in the same situation as me, and I guess I would be reluctant to leave them as they are now."

"Is that the key thread amongst the Akatsuki members?" Naruto asked. Itachi didn't respond.

"If you can offer just a bit of proof to show that they're innocent, we can petition for them to be allowed to join Konoha, or petition their home villages so long as they are ally villages."

"We can do some of that, but they would it really be the same for some of them? I already know a few at least want nothing more than to live in peace, to not have to fight anymore. Other members of the Akatsuki though are authentic criminals, our leader for one. That makes just leaving a huge problem."

"How many would you say are in a similar situation to you compared to the number of criminals?"

"I know that Kisame, my partner was framed for his supposed crimes. Deidara was framed, Sasori was just sick of his village and tried to prevent something from happening by leaving, he won't say what it was though. Zetsu just didn't like how the villages were being run and left them. Kakuzu is also innocent, but he was paired off with a criminal. To avoid suspicion he has forced himself to act as though he doesn't care about anything but money, he does go out of his way though to help other members, and gives as fast and painless of a death as he can to targets."

Naruto nodded, slowly digesting the information before pulling out her bingo book. "I personally know a number of people who are in power in Suna, I believe I can convince them to hear Sasori out. I also know some people in Kiri, so Kisame might be able to go back there, IF he wants, something tells me he won't though. Kakuzu is from Waterfall, so he is another possible for being able to go home. Deidara will have to come to Konoha though, and as for Zetsu, we may be able to petition for him to be removed from the bingo book so he can come and go as he pleases. I'll write Tsunade on this immediately."

Itachi smiled again, this time it lasted for more than a few seconds.

Turning to head back to the inn, Naruto paused for a moment to take in the smile, and the fluttering in her stomach increased drastically.

"Yes," she said finally. "I would be very happy if you came back to Konoha."

She took off immediately for the inn, but Itachi was fast too, possibly faster, and before she was even five feet away from him, she felt a pair of petal soft lips touch her cheek.

She felt the blood rush to her face, but she didn't stop and ran as fast as she could to her room where she shut and locked the door and immediately started on a long letter to Tsunade. And one for the elders, just to be safe.

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Tsunade pounded on her desk as she read the letter from Naruto.

"Since when did Konoha become a mediator between villages and their stray or framed ninjas?!"

"When we decided to hold ourselves to higher morals," came a voice, which Tsunade recognized as that of Homura. Looking up, she saw both him and Koharu inside the doorway.

"Are you two always together?" she demanded.

"Do we make it business to declare to the world that there are people who have been declared missing nins or criminals when they actually aren't?" Koharu snapped back as she produced a scroll. "Itachi-san feels a kinship for these people, and we always say that the ideals of Konoha are that people who abandon their friends are worse than scum, and although these people aren't our friends, they are comrades to Itachi and may be willing to aid us in the future if we offer our own ability to aid them."

"I KNOW THAT," Tsunade growled. "It just annoys me the way this kid seems to keep picking up strays."

"Naruto just naturally will turn to aid other people," Homura stated.

"That is how she is, and that is a quality we want in a Konoha ninja, so long as they remember their own missions and are able to continue to complete those," added Koharu.

"And hopefully she won't ever change that way," Tsunade finished for them. "Now though, I have another problem I have to deal, mainly the Kazekage coming to Konoha for a visit."

"How is that a problem?" asked Homura.

"Simple, he and Naruto are friends. I need to decide whether I should tell him of what happened or make something up, such as she is on an extended undercover mission."

"The latter wouldn't necessarily be a lie, Tsunade-sama," Homura pointed out.

"But there is the problem of the bingo book though," Koharu advised.

"Some help you two are…" Tsunade muttered as the two left the room, having just added two new items on her list of what to consider before telling Gaara anything.

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The next morning came early for Naruto. The birds were chirping. The sun was shining. Anko had found her a lot sooner than she thought she would despite writing down the name of the town that she would be stopping at in her letter. The unexpected woman was currently pounding on the door to Naruto's room.

"BRAT!! I KNOW YOU'RE IN THERE SO COME OUT ALREADY!"

This was some sort of punishment from above, and Naruto knew it.


	31. Nani!

Saria: (peeks around at the quiet room) This is… creepy.

SA: Don't ruin it, you need this job. Who else is going to give you a starting rate of $8 an hour?

Zas: Do it for the Anime!!

Saria: (does a "good guy" stance that Lee would be proud of) YES!! For the ANIME!

Tori: Guys, this lab is really creeping me out… It's so clean, so sterile, so many computers.

Saria: The perfect place to continue writing now that I actually have time.

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"BRAT! I'M WAITING FOR AN EXPLANATION!!" Anko's voice carried through out the inn and Naruto winced, hoping with every fiber of her being that Itachi wasn't still around.

Grabbing the door, she yanked it open and dragged Anko into the room before the woman had the opportunity to yell again.

"Anko-sensei! What a pleasant surprise, I wasn't expecting you for another few hours." Naruto immediately found herself dodging two kunais that were launched at her from the slightly crazy woman before her.

"How many times have I told you not to call me sensei?!" growled the Jounin as she fingered another kunai in an almost loving manner. "That word makes me feel old!"

"Itachi-sensei was younger than you when he became my teacher," Naruto countered.

"Speaking of that weasel, where is he? And that Sasuke kid too? Weren't you all on a mission together?"

Naruto mentally sighed as she realized how much filling in Anko would need to know where they stood. "To answer your first question, Itachi was here just last night. We exchanged some news and bits of information. Sasuke is back in Orochimaru's lair, he sent me on a mission to come here and destroy a lab. I thought there might be information here on the cursed seal, so that is why I sent word to Konoha. We're going to have to watch our step though, I'm very sure that Orochimaru will have someone watching me."

"That hebi?" remarked Anko with a laugh. "No, that's not quite his style. He prefers to make a show of trusting people when they go out on missions. As long as you return in a timely manner and have fulfilled your objective, he won't waste his time by sending a spy. No, he prefers to send teams of people, ones that aren't friends, not likely for them to work together on anything except the mission with the way he has people trained."

Naruto nodded slightly before grabbing up her bag and slinging it onto her shoulders.

"So, what did you and Itachi really do?"

The girl blanched at the question and lost her footing, a blush coloring her cheeks a dark red.

"Aww! Little Naruto-chan is growing up! You know, it's only another year and a half before you are at the age of marriage!"

"Anko-san," Naruto began in a deadly voice, "you will get your head out of the gutter and focus on this mission or so help I will personally ream you and claim that one of the scientists did it on accident."

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Before setting out to the island that the lab was suppose to be on, Anko insisted on getting breakfast and checking on the team that would be helping guard the shipment of money. For Naruto this meant that she was going to be fighting about which was better, ramen or dango and red bean soup. The resulting quarrel over this matter led to them destroying several fish carts before they realized that there were no shops in town that sold any of those items.

As they dejectedly went to another shop to buy some other form of food though, Naruto spied something that seemed horrifyingly familiar. In an alley that was just off of the road there was a young girl who was getting rocks thrown at her by a gaggle of children. A spike of anger caused her chakra to react slightly, enough for Anko to notice though and her attention turned to see the scene that unfolding before her also.

"This sort of thing happens everywhere it would seem," she murmured, as Naruto stepped forward to break up the group.

She only had to slap several of the children before they all broke apart and ran, leaving the young girl behind. Naruto glared at their backs before checking the girl for wounds, then deciding she would be ok, lifted the unconscious girl and carried her with them to the restaurant.

The restaurant owner was oddly compassionate when Naruto and Anko arrived with the unconscious girl still over Naruto's shoulder, actually declaring that the insolent brats of the village were always doing something like this to the girl, Isaribi. She took the girl back to her storage room though, and said she would watch her until she woke up.

Both Naruto and Anko agreed to eat at the restaurant that day, and breakfast consisted of grilled fish and rice with miso soup. It was a plain breakfast, but it was still good.

An hour later, both women were out of the village a little ways and had chosen to borrow a boat from a fisherman who didn't ask any questions. They took turns rowing slowly out to the island.

Neither had remembered that Anko was supposed to check in with the shipment guard team.

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Neji and Hinata stared at each other from the opposite ends of the battle ground. Before them, evidence of the fierce battle was evident. Both were exhausted, but determined to win, especially with Hinata's father was watching the match as a judge. And they all knew that Hinata was about to make her next move.

"Checkmate," she said with a smile as she pushed her bishop forward, cornering Neji's king, and he had no pieces anywhere that could help.

Smiling, just for a little dramatic effect, he pushed his king over, letting it fall onto its side.

Hinata's father was smiling slightly also as he watched the end of the game. He didn't know where Hinata had gotten the chess set but he was glad that he had decided to watch them play.

"A very bright move, Hinata." He remarked as he stood to return to his duties as the Head of the Hyuuga clan. Hiashi took note of the proud smile that lit up his daughter's face.

"That was very good, Hinata-sama," Neji added, making sure to add the –sama part since Hiashi-sama was still within earshot. "And that was very close…" he murmured as he began to scoop up the chess pieces and put the set back into its box.

They had been reviewing some of the notes that were hidden in the chess pieces, adding on new information where they had some, when Hiashi had come in and asked what they were doing. Hinata had automatically answered that they were going to play chess, and Hiashi had invited himself to watch. The game they had played was real, had mentally exhausted them both, and had given Neji some insight on his cousin, Naruto was giving her a devious streak that combined with Hinata's mental abilities made her capable of some brilliant strategies. She might not be as good as Shikamaru, but she was someone to not be trifled with.

"We're going to have to tell Tsunade to send a note to Naruto, telling her to return. Mariko's information has almost gotten this case sealed for us."

"True," Neji replied, "but consider where she is right now. Also, her mission currently has more than one subject that needs to be attended to. And Hokage-sama told us of the new material we're going to have to search for."

"Testimony from some of those individuals will be enough to help some of them. All that Kisame person would need is a good alibi. Several seem to have just disappeared from their villages, so return might be possible. All-in-all, I can't see this as taking more than a year after Naruto returns for this entire thing to be over." Hinata smiled at the idea of her friend returning.

"Should we warn her anyway though? After all, she is in the dead center of the snake's den."

"She'll know soon enough," replied Hinata.

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While entering the base, Naruto ordered Anko the conceal herself, which the woman did without too many complaints. She used a genjutsu to make herself almost unnoticeable.

The lab itself was dark, and had it not been for the fact that Naruto could distinctly feel the presence of three people other than herself and Anko, she might have thought that the place was deserted.

She paid no real mind to the first two people she ran into, two that she recognized as being members of Kabuto's team during the chuunin exams. She simply broke the neck of the energy stealer and threw a kunai through the head of the one who could disconnect his joints, killing both instantly, before heading deeper into the lab.

Anko peeled away from her at one of the corners when she noticed a light coming from under a door so she could begin the search. Naruto continued heading toward the presence that was the last person she needed to eliminate.

She passed a number of cages, all of which she was glad to say where empty, but the air around them was thick. Naruto couldn't stop herself from opening the doors to said cages just so whatever spirits might still be trapped here could find their freedom.

The hall finally ended and Naruto found herself comparing how similar this place seemed to Orochimaru's main hide out. Even the door that stood before her seemed to be almost like a replica of the one at the hide out. Pushing the tainted door open, she peeked in to see a man sitting on a throne in the middle of the room.

'Great, an Orochimaru-wannabe,' she thought as she stepped fully into the room, her golden hair color seeming to light it up a bit. 'I hope not all missions I receive are like this.'

"Who are you?" Amachi demanded, his eyes falling on her quickly, and Naruto noted that there was no way he could be a ninja.

"Well?" he demanded.

"I come from Orochimaru-sama," she replied dully. "He sent me here to bring you word."

The man's eyes visibly lit up and he jumped off of his "throne".

"Shall I finally be allowed to continue my work with my specimens?"

'Specimens?' Naruto thought as her eyes narrowed. "Not quite. Orochimaru-sama believes that you have outlived your usefulness. I'm here to eliminate you."

The Amachi's eyes widened significantly, before he grinned in a maniacal way. "I won't be dying today, and especially not to you little girl!" Amachi seemed almost to explode outward for a moment before his body seemed to return to normal, almost. He now looked like some sort of green sea creature.

"Undoubtedly, at some point you met Isaribi. Unlike her, I'm not some half-finished freak! I'm a full water warrior!"

Naruto felt her eyebrow begin to twitch as she looked around, noticing one key element that was missing.

"You might be a ninja, but you can never hope to finish me in the water! Bwa ha ha ha!"

"Dude, there's no water here…"

Amachi's laughter ceased very quickly as he realized that she was right, there was no water here, and he was getting very dry.

"Katon: Karyuu Endan no Jutsu!" Naruto roared before the flames exploded from her mouth, cooking Amachi in an instant.

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"Oi, gaki, you find anything yet?" Anko called from one side of the room.

"No," Naruto answered as she rifled through more of the piles of paper that were scattered before her. "What about you?"

"Same, but that does remind me of something I've been wanting to do," Anko replied before grabbing a notebook and hitting Naruto over the head, hard.

"Ow! What was that for?" the blonde demanded as grabbed her head.

"For the fiasco you pulled in the Chuunin exams several years ago and avoiding me for all these years. Now, are you going to make a snow storm for me on my birthday, or will I have to hit you again?"

Naruto sweatdropped. Only Anko-sensei could be so weirdly random.

"Oh, and I want to be invited to your wedding!"

"Nani?!?"

"And I think I've found something!" Anko cheered as she held up a folder.

"Good, you can go look some more over there, and I'll look here. Also, that girl, Isaribi, remember her?"

Anko nodded easily.

"Take her back to Konoha with you, ok? I think the mad scientist used her in some horrific experiment."

"Why should I do that? I've had enough of brats!"

"Ok, so you want to carry all of these notes back to Konoha on your own?" asked Naruto as she indicated the growing stack of documents to be taken to Konoha.

"I hope she has a big backpack or a bag of some sort."

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'Those notes might be able to help Sasuke,' Naruto thought as she headed back to Sound Village. 'But I didn't see anything that could help me or Kyuubi. Maybe Orochimaru wouldn't abandon notes like that in Sea Country though. They won't expect me back until the day after tomorrow though, so maybe I can sneak in to see if I can find something that can help.'

Naruto wondered briefly where she should look first, and decided quickly.

'Orochimaru's room, definitely,' she thought as she stopped.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu," she called as she slammed her hand down. Before her stood Geishou. "Quick, to the Sound Village!" she cried as she jumped onto his back.

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All was quiet in the compound when she arrived, but that didn't stop her from bringing out her stealth skills. Shoving her chakra as low as it would go, she quietly snuck through the hallways, avoiding any hallway that she even suspected would be high traffic.

'I have to be getting lucky,' Naruto thought as she moved into the final hall and stopping in front of what she hoped was the right door. 'Wait a second; MY room is on this same hallway!' she realized angrily. 'Sick pervert…'

Pushing the door open, she gingerly stepped into the room, carefully shutting the door behind her. The room before her had a bed, several desks and bureaus, but there was no evidence of a closet or a bathroom.

Naruto rushed to one of the desks, checked the entire thing for any sort of traps or special drawers, and finding none, began to search the drawers.

'Files on the Kaguya, Mizu, the Sandaime Kazekage, and someone named Kakuzu.' Naruto paused at the name Kakuzu. 'One of Itachi's compatriots…' Moving down a drawer, she began to check for other information.

'Files on Mizu jutsus and the greats that have appeared in the past in Kirigakure. Various leaders in some of the countries that broke away from Kiri, such as Sea and the Wave.'

The next drawer held files on Iwagakure and included many of the basic jutsus as well as some of their leaders.

Jumping up, Naruto moved to the next desk and began the search again. She had a bit more luck though this time when she found a file on the Uchiha clan which she immediately leafed through, but found nothing of interest. She also found a jutsu that was originally created to cure ninjas that had multiple personality disorder (MPD), and read through that also.

As she moved to the last desk though, she heard a rather horrific sound, footsteps.

'HIDE!' her senses screamed, and she dove for the first place she saw that could possibly serve as a hiding place, under the bed. A few minutes later, the door to the room swung open, and Naruto felt the sudden assault of the smell of liquor and the sound of drunken singing. Then, Orochimaru, in his full drunken glory stumbled into the room.

"Am she shaid YEAH YEAH YEAH! Oooo-ooh! YEAH YEAH YEAH! Oo-oH!"

Naruto winced as she attempted to keep still as Orochimaru screeched out the notes, and she noted that the men who followed him were not faring any better.

"Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto said quietly, "what made feel as though you needed to get so drunk?"

"Kabs, you need to loosen up or you'll end up just like Sasuke! Ku ku ku."

At the nickname of "Kabs", Naruto had to stifle a snirk of laughter.

"Besides, I need lots of practice if I want to be able to outlast everyone! Maybe I should get Sasuke and Naruto-chan to come drinking next time. They would probably be extremely cute while drunk!"

"Orochimaru-sama, I believe you need your sleep now," Kabuto said as he gently guided Orochimaru over to the bed.

"Will my bunny be there?" Orochimaru demanded as he glared daggers at Kabuto.

"Yes, your bunny will be there," replied Kabuto, who shot the guards a glare in turn.

"Will Naruto-chan be there?" Orochimaru asked in a quieter voice.

'Oh god, kill me now!' Naruto thought.

"Naruto-san is on a mission, Orochimaru-sama. She'll be back either tomorrow or the day after."

"Where's my bunny?!"

"Here, Orochimaru-sama," the sound of fabric being pulled back filled the air after the words were spoken. "You need to sleep this off I'm afraid."

"Night night Kabs!" said a slightly childish voice as Kabuto and the guards walked out of the room, and Naruto could hear him threatening the guards about keeping silent.

'Great,' she thought, 'now how do I get out of here?' Taking several deep breaths, she tried to clear her mind and found herself being drawn back into her mind, to where Kyuubi remained.

"Something wrong furball?" she asked.

Despite looking immensely weak, the Kyuubi grinned at her. "It's finally done…" he whispered to the young girl.

"What's done?"

"The bloodline that I've created for you… and your descendants."

"My hair?"

"No, that was just a prepping period, your body adjusting to the ability. The true ability is similar to the capabilities of animals when it comes to concealment. You and your descendants will be able to completely hide your chakra, not even the Byakugan or Sharingan will be able to see it. As for what your body was being prepped for, it is the ability to change your coloring completely. The more practice you get, the better your camouflage will be."

"So, right now, if I change my coloring to a good dark grey color and shove down my chakra, I should be able to sneak out of here without too many problems."

Kyuubi's only answer was a grin.

Blinking her eyes, Naruto found herself back under the bed, and the noise overhead had dwindled down to just breathing. Turning her gaze down to her hand, she began to focus, and slowly, right before her eyes, her skin began to change colors, darkening to match the darkness that surrounded her. Focusing, she felt the rest of her body slowly darken, she hoped at least. A quick check of her hair showed that it was dark also; mixing with the darkness as though it belonged there.

Slowly, silently, Naruto pulled herself out from under the bed, and crouched by the side of the bed, only to almost yelp in surprise when a hand tangled into her hair and yanked her down into the bed.

'No no no…' she thought as she found herself wrapped up in Orochimaru's arms, he was peacefully asleep.

'Ok, it could be worse,' she thought, until she caught a glimpse of her once again pale skin. 'It's worse… I have to get out of here!'

Gently pushing herself downward, she tried her best to slip out of the arms that encircled her. She was almost free, but the arms were starting to tighten around her frame. A groan coming from the snake man's throat caused Naruto to freeze completely.

The sannin shifted, his arms pulling her up and closer to him, and she was certain she heard him murmuring about "his bunny".

Once again, she forced herself to stay calm and go slow, circling her body with one arm to grab the man's arm, pulling it away from her body, slowly. She worked his arm off and away slowly, inch by inch, minutes slowly sliding by. Flexing her stomach muscles, she slowly began to sit up, balancing lightly on her tail bone.

'Almost, almost…'

Once again, Naruto bit back a yelp when her hair was grabbed; quickly hauling her head back down to the bed.

"So soft…" Orochimaru murmured as he rubbed his face against her now white hair again.

Naruto shivered in disgust, then realized what talking in sleep could mean and held still. 'Don't wake up…'

"Naruto-chan, so soft…"

'Wake up so I can kill you in good conscious,' Naruto corrected her previous thought.

Grabbing a pillow from the head of the bed, she began to maneuver it between Orochimaru's arms, forcing his arms to separate enough for her to remove her hair from the death trap of his arms.

'Quiet, quiet, quiet…' she pulled her backpack out from under the bed and crept towards the door. 'Quiet, quiet, quiet…'

Footsteps.

Pushing her chakra down to hide it like Kyuubi had said she could, she grabbed onto the wall and focused on her skin, darkening it.

Moments later, the door opened and Kabuto entered. Naruto took the opportunity to slip out, completely unnoticed, and made her way back out of the base.

That night, she slept in the woods, about ten miles away from the base, but wished with every fiber of her being that she was further away from it.


	32. Request

Zas: Writers block?

Saria: Writers block…

Tori: Is it gone yet?

Saria: Not completely.

SA: So, what have we learned thus far because of this?

Saria: That Grimmjow/Ichigo pairings are REALLY hot and I seriously want to write one now!

Everyone except Saria: (slaps their hands across their faces)

Zas: Thank god you haven't even attempted to write a yaoi yet…

zzzzzzzzzz

Naruto groaned as she trekked her way back to Orochimaru's base, thoroughly not looking forward to seeing the place again, especially after what happened the previous night.

'Thank god Kyuubi gave me that bloodline though… Might not be very powerful but it will certainly be useful in spying and assassination missions,' she thought as she stopped before a tree, focusing on the color of it, then comparing her hand to the actual tree. 'I can only really copy the color though, so this is a skill best used at night, but Kyuubi did also say that as I practiced this would get better, so maybe I'd be able to maintain a pattern of some sorts to make it look more real.'

Breaking her concentration on the color, Naruto lowered her hand and continued toward the base, slowly shifting back into the snowy white coloring her skin had come to naturally take.

zzzzzzzzzz

Grinning like a Cheshire cat, Mariko placed the sealed scroll on top of Naruto's bed in Orochimaru's base.

Locating the base and breaking into it had been oddly simple, as had been finding Naruto's room. Then again, after leaving Iwagakure, one of the odd jobs she had taken was finding things for people and exchanging them for pay, she believed the proper term was "thief". But she didn't much care for that word, besides; the skills she had learned were useful.

"Alright, now I'm going back to Konoha and making Kakashi-kun treat me to dinner!" she exclaimed happily before skipping out of the room.

zzzzzzzzzz

One of the first things Naruto did after reentering the base of Orochimaru was head toward the medical center to return the leftover supplies she had gotten from Kabuto. She hadn't really gotten injured, so naturally she still had just about everything.

Upon entering the medical bay though, she saw that the silver haired medic was not there. Deciding that it would be rude to simply dump the stuff and leave, Naruto elected to wait for him to return. That didn't mean she couldn't look around though.

Stepping lightly through one of the few doors in the place, she found herself in a dark room that had a number of machines, most of them looking as though they were life support or monitors of some sort. And all of them were hooked up to a single solitary figure on a strange looking hospital bed whose head was covered by a seal. A single wisp of white hair though betrayed who it was.

'Thought so... This guy is sick, and probably dying. Why though?' Glancing at his bare chest, she spotted the cursed seal of earth, so much different from the cursed heaven seals that she and Sasuke bore.

'Why would Orochimaru make two different seals?' The question loomed over her head until she got a little closer to the figure, actually reaching her hand out to hover over the seal before she felt it. 'This seal is killing him!'

"It's you again, isn't it?" asked a slightly muffled voice. "Uzumaki Naruto, the girl who interests Orochimaru-sama."

Naruto fought back a wince that she felt rising because of his nonchalant attitude, the fact he wasn't even in the least bit unsure.

"Yeah, it's me. How did you know?"

"Because I remember what your chakra felt like, and you're the first person to come and visit me other than Kabuto. Even Orochimaru-sama doesn't come much anymore."

Naruto's eyebrows lifted slightly. She never expected that Orochimaru would visit ANYONE. Ever.

"I said something that surprises you." Yet another statement. Naruto really was beginning to feel as though she were bare before this one.

"Orochimaru isn't as bad as you seem to think. He doesn't think I know, but I do, his heart is bleeding. His heart has been bleeding for so long now and he won't let it heal."

'The snake-bastard has a heart?' "You gave yourself to him to try to help him heal, but you feel as though your sickness has torn up any good that you may have done."

"Yes" was the quiet reply. "You are highly observant, but I realize already that you couldn't do as I was about to ask."

"What do you mean?"

"I will pass on soon. I had hoped that you would carry on with what I tried, but I see that that is impossible. You don't really care for Orochimaru-sama, and it probably would be better if he were to pass on as well, while his soul still exists."

Naruto nodded slightly, fully understanding what was being asked of her. "I just have one question, and I think it may be for the best if you answer it."

A ghost white hand sought her own hand a second later, and she gently placed her hand into it.

"You want to know if Orochimaru-sama had anything to do with the Uchiha massacre, because you realize that aside from Orochimaru-sama himself and Kabuto, that I'm the most likely to know." A sad smile crossed the man's face and Naruto had to admit that she was taken aback by his insight. "He never had a hand in any of it. In fact, the day he found out, he flew into a rage, screaming of what he would do to the perpetrator. He had been hoping to make a deal with them in order to gain the Sharingan through a trade."

"But, that would be treason on the behalf of the Uchiha clan…" Naruto murmured. Close one door; open yet another can of worms…

zzzzzzzzzz

Kabuto returned to the clinic a few minutes later and Naruto made sure he was aware that she was back before heading back into the base, her objective: find Sasuke. Half of what they had come here about was solved, Orochimaru did not participate in the Uchiha massacre nor did he know who did the deed. Naruto contemplated whether or not she should tell Sasuke about the attempt of Orochimaru to make a deal with the Uchiha to gain the Sharingan, and found that she wouldn't keep it from him.

There was no doubt in her mind that Itachi would disapprove of this action, but she knew Sasuke better than him. Sasuke should know now so that later on, he wouldn't do something he would later regret.

'Besides,' she thought, 'after what happened last night, I'M the one who will kill Orochimaru.'

It wasn't surprising that Sasuke was in the training area. What was surprising was that he was there with the remaining two members of the Sound Four, the people that Naruto recognized as the ones that had held the barrier during the Sand/Sound invasion of Konoha. The two who lived were the dark pink haired girl with the flute and the one that looked as though he had two heads. Their companions, the six armed man and the really heavy set one, had died in custody in Konoha.

Naruto watched as the girl, Tayuya, did a summoning jutsu and called forth three demonic looking summons. The summons appeared to be controlled by her flute, more specifically, her finger movements. The one with two heads jumped back and… separated…

'Great, identical twins…' she thought as she watched them charge toward Sasuke. 'Hopefully that's a bloodline and not a jutsu so I don't have to watch Sasuke attempt it.' Naruto shivered in horror at the thought of Sasuke making a twin of himself: the fangirls in Konoha would go bonkers and start trying to make teams to win the twins over.

Sasuke went on the offensive straight away and started out with a Katon: Goukyaku no jutsu.

'Typical,' Naruto thought as she watched him then use the fireball to cover his approach, hoping to catch his opponents off guard.

Typical enough that neither of the two survivors of the Sound Four fell for the trap. The "twins" used a Doton jutsu to burrow under the ground and Tayuya sent her summons straight through the fireball at Sasuke, as she herself jumped up onto a tree branch above the action.

Sasuke may have been good, but experience won out on this round as he slammed straight into the first of the summons as they broke through the fireball.

At this point, Naruto decided to spare Sasuke the embarrassment of her watching him get his ass handed to him and left the training ground, opting to stand by the entry way and wait for him to exit. It didn't take longer than a few minutes, and though she would call Sasuke tough for their age, she knew he wouldn't be able to beat those two in a straight fight. So when he stepped out of the training area looking like he had just tried to wrestle a herd of rabid raccoons, Naruto simply rolled her eyes.

"So you're back," Sasuke stated when he caught sight of her.

"Yep. I found some stuff out. And I think you're going to need to sit down." Naruto stated as she turned and led the way towards her room.

"No holding anything back?" Sasuke queried as he caught up and walked along side of her.

"You should know already that I expect you to be able to listen and try to keep a level head, at least at the moment anyway," Naruto replied as they turned into the hall where her room was and she pushed open the door. "So, let's discuss chess."

zzzzzzzzzz

Tori: Another chapter.

Zas: Same requests as always.

SA: And for those of you who don't know what that would be…

Saria: It's quite simple.

All: Now that you've read it, review!


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